Hero's Heart
by Canis Cantus
Summary: A new mission has sent Sora away from the islands again. What turns out to be a simple mission at first will put Sora in a race to overcome the darkness within him. Is there any hope for the keyblade master?
1. Distress

**Hero´s Heart Chapter 1: Distress**

**This is my first fanfiction ever, reviews are appreciated. Thanks to FlitFreak for letting me borrow some ideas, and also thanks to Crystal my best friend for going over some mistakes. **

**Disclaimer: I don´t own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters present, just the idea for the story. **

**Here goes...**

**'Roxas´s _Thoughts_'**

'_Thoughts_'

"Speech"

* * *

**Chapter 1: Distress**

The sound of running could barely break the eerie silence. A single lonely figure was desperately making his way across the fog that covered most of the dark area. It was a boy barely in his teens, he had spiky brown hair and wore a strange outfit. It consisted of black shorts with red pouch-like bags at the side of either leg, attached by yellow straps. A blue and red shirt was worn underneath a black hoodie, a crown pendant hung from his neck swinging side to side as he ran. The teen also wore fingerless gloves, oversized shoes with a similar design as the rest of his clothes. His most amazing feature however were his eyes, they were a beautiful shade of azure. Their beauty however was shadowed by the uneasiness that the eyes expressed.

Sora warily eyed his surrounding as he continued running, he knew he was being followed. He also knew that if he didn't get back he would die, or worse. Sora looked down to see that he could see his own breath, it was colder than he thought, to make things worse he could barely see where he was going because of the thick fog. Suddenly the brunette felt a chilling sensation down his spine followed by goose bumps , he knew the sensation all to well, THEY were coming.

'_How did I get myself into this?_' Sora groaned quickening his pace despite his exhaustion. He couldn't afford to slow down and fight, right now running was his only option.

**'_You know very well how it started._'** Replied the an all-too-familiar voice within Sora's mind, it was Roxas his nobody. Both of them had been together since Sora had first awoken from his year long sleep in the basement of Twilight Town's mansion. Sora however was not exactly aware of Roxas's presence until The World That Never Was. That encounter cleared up a few things for him, like why the organization members kept referring to him as Roxas.

'_I was being rhetorical._' Replied Sora sounding a bit annoyed. Of course he remembered how this whole ordeal started. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a silver charm bracelet, eyeing it and then putting it back as to make sure it was still there. '_We have to make it back._'

Right now it seemed like so long ago since he was last with his friends Riku and Kairi, looking at the sunset in the islands, without a care in the world. To think that so much had changed during the day that had passed since then…

* * *

Sora had been looking at the beautiful sunset from his favorite spot on the bent palm tree. A comfortable, warm tropical breeze surrounded him, the sound of the crashing waves were music to him, he could feel the sand on his feet a feeling that he had missed while he was on other worlds. He closed his eyes and smiled, he had finally found his friends Riku and Kairi, Organization XIII was gone, and he was finally back in the islands. Everything was perfect.

Overall Destiny Islands hadn't changed, the island he spent his childhood in, the one he was glancing at the sun from right now was almost exactly as it was before the heartless attacked. If anyone had changed it was him, a lot had happened since the islands got attacked and he received the mysterious keyblade, for starters he couldn't get into the secret spot so easily now since he had grown a lot. Crawling through the entrance was harder than he thought. The tiny cave was the place where he had spent a great deal of his time with his friends drawing doodles on the wall. That was the place were he had secretly confessed his feelings to Kairi by drawing himself giving her a destiny-sharing paopu, much to his surprise Kairi had drawn herself giving one to him in return. Sora blushed intensely at the thought, he could hear Roxas holding back a laugh.

'_What are you laughing about, you feel the same way about Naminé._' Sora smirked, Roxas DID feel the same way towards Kairi´s nobody Naminé.

**'_Well at least my furiously blushing face doesn't show._'** Roxas laughed knowing that he was right. Sora´s face was as red as Axel´s hair.

Sora put his hand in his pocket fishing out a beautiful silver charm bracelet that seemed to shine gold with the setting sun. It was going to be Kairi's birthday in two weeks, he had missed her birthday before because he was off on his important quest, deep down he wanted to make it up to her. It had taken a while to save enough munny to buy the bracelet, he could still remember how many heartless he had to slay, as well as all the odd jobs he took. In the end he was happy with the results, all his hard work had paid off.

'_Do you think she'll like it?' _Sora asked the former nobody.

'_**She's gonna love it**__._' Replied Roxas. '_**You know she will like whatever you give her.**_'

'_Yeah I know but that is exactly why its so hard to get her something._' Sora said looking at nowhere in particular.

"SORAAA_!_" A familiar voice yelled behind him. The keyblade master almost had a heart attack, he frantically put the charm bracelet back in his pocket and turn around to face Kairi, still a bit shaken from the surprise. He quickly tried to subdue his blush and calm down, in his mind Roxas was on the floor laughing his butt off. Behind him was a girl about his age with reddish brown hair, she wore a white shirt underneath a pink dress that had a hoodie in the back.

"Hey Kairi." Said Sora grinning sheepishly.

"Hey Sora, looking at the sunset_?_" Asked Kairi

"Yeah the twilight looks amazing, I think Roxas has rubbed off on me." Replied Sora crossing his arms thinking. It was true Roxas´s personality had not vanished like it was initially thought it would, instead it lived in him coexisting with his own. As a result they shared memories and now they sometimes found themselves doing things they usually did not do. This was the case with Sora, he found himself contemplating the sunset just like Roxas used to contemplate the sky on top of the clock tower in Twilight Town.

While busy in deep thought Sora failed to notice the silver haired teen that slowly crept behind Sora waiting to strike. He looked older than Sora or Kairi, and wore a pair of baggy jeans with a yellow vest.

"AHHH!" Cried a surprised Sora as he found himself stuck in a headlock.

"Hey Riku." Kairi laughed as she saw the surprised expression on Sora´s face.

"I thought I would find you two slackers out here." Said Riku in his usual cool tone. "I was starting to think you wanted to spend the night together out here."

This comment caused the two younger teens to look away both of their faces were blushing.

"Anyways I really should head back." Said Kairi quickly leaving the two boys.

Both teens just stood there, Riku had a smirk on his face, Sora on the other hand was quite oblivious to what had just happened.

The boat ride back was calm, both teens were putting their plans together for a party to celebrate Kairi's birthday in two weeks. The gang from Disney castle were coming, as well as the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee from Radiant Garden. Unfortunately because of world order and all most of their friends from other worlds wouldn't be able to make it. It would have been amusing to see all those different people from different worlds interact in a room, Sora could only imagine the chaos that would ensue. Most guests would run at the sight of either Jack Skellington, Simba or the Beast. Not to mention that the Beast wasn't on good terms with Riku.

After reaching the main island a strange sight caught the teens off guard. Two small brown blurs dashed towards Sora who summoned the keyblade and took a defensive stance. He dismissed the keyblade after a better look to realize that the small blurs were his mechanics Chip and Dale two chipmunks from Disney Castle. Riku looked somewhat confused when the two chipmunks began to talk in their high pitched voices. Of course he would look confused, Riku didn't fly in the gummi ship with him, in fact Sora was pretty shocked the first time he met the gummi experts too.

"Hey Sora long time no see!" Said the red nosed chipmunk called Dale.

"We missed you!" Said Chip.

"I missed you guys too, how is everybody?" Said Sora kneeling down to get a better look at his friends_._

"Everyone's great!" Said Chip. "But that's not why we are really here, the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee needs you for a mission, we were sent here to pick you up."

Sora and Riku glanced at each other. It had been a while since the HBRC needed his help, last time they did he was still on his quest to defeat Organization XIII. Since the heartless situation in Radiant Garden was under control, Sora´s missions usually consisted of going to other worlds that weren't as lucky. It didn't come as a surprise that the heartless situation would never stop, it was after all like Yen Sid had told him; As long as there was darkness in a person's heart the heartless would continue to exist.

Sora cast a sad glance towards the ground, he didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to Kairi. At times like this he wished he could just forget his duties and just live a normal life. But this was different, the fates of worlds and their inhabitants rested on his shoulders.

"Its OK Sora, we know you have to do this." Said Riku as he patted his friend's shoulder. "Oh and don't worry about Kairi, I'll explain what happened. Just make sure to come back in time for her birthday."

'_Wait how did he know, is he psychic?!_' Thought Sora.

'_**Nope, he's just a good friend, a good friend always knows what's bothering you**__._' Replied Roxas.

'_You still there?_' Asked Sora laughing.

**'****No Sora I am out drinking tea, where else am I supposed to be?**' Replied Roxas sarcastically.

He knew Roxas was referring to an experience with Axel. Axel had been a big enigma to Sora during his quest, although he kidnapped Kairi, in the end it was because of his sacrifice that Sora was able to make it. The flurry of the dancing flames and the key of destiny were best friends till the end. Who knew, maybe Axel was able to regain his heart, he was sure that the nobody had feelings.

Having said goodbye to Riku and quickly packing some stuff from his house (also saying goodbye to his parents of course), Sora headed to the gummi ship, taking one last look at the setting sun from his world before heading inside the gummi ship setting course to Radiant Garden.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! **

**Chapter 2 will be up soon just be patient! Don´t worry I plan to go through with this.**

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	2. Beginnings

**Hero's Heart Chapter 2: Beginnings**

**Ok I fixed a few mistakes in the first chapter, I still don´t know how it happened. This is actually the longest chapter yet, Chapter 3 won´t be as long though.** **Thanks to everyone that read Chapter 1!**

**Disclaimer: As much as I would want to I do not own Kindgom Hearts. They belong to Square Enix and Disney.**

**Oh and this story contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the Kingdom Hearts Series. If you haven´t played it then do it now. Seriously what are you waiting for?**

**Enjoy...**

* * *

The stars or rather WORLDS looked beautiful outside from the luminous interior of the gummi ship, each seemed to glow with a distinct color. Sora remembered watching the stars at night with Riku and Kairi back at the islands, never would he have thought that one day he would be in a quest to save them. Overall it was a sight that never ceased to amaze Sora, even when the trip to Radiant Garden was rather uneventful.

Radiant Garden changed little while he was gone, if anything more people wandered the streets, and new shops had opened. Apparently the world formally known as Hollow Bastion was doing very well. Sora slowly made his way across the streets after saying goodbye to Chip and Dale, he waved at the familiar faces as he passed by them on his way to Merlin's house.

"HEY SORA OVER HERE!" Shouted an all too familiar voice, it came from a teen with short black hair. She wore a black shirt with flower patterns, khaki shorts and had an oversized shuriken in her hand. It belonged to none other than Radiant Garden's #1 ninja (not that there were any others).

"Hey Yuffie." Sora said approaching her, his trademark grin on his face. "How is everybody?"

"Well Aerith, Cid, and I were just over at Merlin's, Squa- I mean LEON is at the Bailey, we have no idea where Cloud is, Tifa is still looking for him." Said Yuffie.

Sora laughed at the last comment, Cloud and Tifa had joined the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee shortly after the battle at Hollow Bastion. The two of then still had to work out some problems though. While Cloud wanted to fight his inner darkness alone, Tifa insisted on doing it together. This made Cloud try to constantly avoid Tifa. Tifa on the other hand was constantly trying to hunt Cloud down. Sora kind of felt sorry for Cloud though, Tifa was scary when she was mad.

_**'I agree she is kinda scary.' **_Roxas said in his mind. **'Remember how she trashed Ansem´s study in her search for Cloud?'**

_'Yeah I do, scary as it was it was thanks to her we found the password to the data space.'_ Sora thought. After entering the world in Ansem´s computer for the first time. Sora was asked by Tron, a computer program, to get the password. The key to finding it was written on the wall behind a heavy portrait of Xenahort. Tifa lifted it almost effortlessly revealing the clue behind.

Sora made his way to Merlin's house, it was located in and area with several houses that were now in the process of being fixed. A familiar sight met Sora when he entered. Aerith quickly greeted them with her usual warm smile, she wore the outfit as last time, a pink dress, brown boots and a signature pink bow in her hair. Cid was sitting in front of a computer, he wore his usual pants with a white shirt that seemed to be stained with a bit of motor oil, a toothpick was in the blonde's mouth. Last but not least Merlin was standing up while waving his wand like a conductor would to orchestrate a band, several books and other objects flew into his bag. Sora was very surprised the first time he saw the wizard do this, now after years of seeing the wizard perform magic it was but a very amusing scene to him.

"Hey Sora we missed you, how have you been?" Aerith asked in her usual sweet motherly tone.

"About time you got here." Cid said in his usual tone of voice.

"I'm Ok, looks like everything's back to normal too." Sora said grinning. "Anyways did you guys need me for some mission, oh and what with Merlin packing?"

"Ah my boy, I will be making a trip to my world soon, a young lad there needs my guidance, he will become a future king, you know." said the wizard. "I will be back in a couple of weeks."

"And about the mission, we are waiting for Leon to get here so that we can give you the details." Cid said. "Yuffie go get him."

"Why do I have to get him?" Complained Yuffie, stomping her foot.

"Cause you are the fastest, miss I-can-disappear-in-a-cloud-of-smoke." Cid said. Sora tried to hold back a laugh, it was true Yuffie was always boasting about her speed.

"Fine I'll do it." Yuffie said before she left through the door.

After a brief moment of catching up, Yuffie appeared through the door with Leon. Leon was a young man that looked like he was in his twenties a unique scar ran diagonally across the bridge of his nose The brunette hadn't changed one bit, he still wore his black pants with many belts, a white shirt underneath a black leather jacket that had a fur trim around the neck and a pattern of red wings on the back, a lion pendant hung around his neck and of course his gunblade was held over one shoulder. Despite the tough and stoic looks, Leon was a very caring person. After being together for so long Leon had taken a liking to the keyblade master. He viewed Sora as a little brother, and was often worried about his well-being.

After the greetings were over Cid began to explain the mission. Apparently a strange reading was coming from a far-off world, one that Sora had never been to before. The reading was really strange and was causing all sorts of disturbances in the space that surrounded the world. Sora's mission was to investigate what was causing these disturbances and put a stop to them.

"We haven't been able to make contact with that world before, so be discreet." Cid said.

"Most importantly since we don't know anything about the disturbances be careful, and stay alert." Leon said in his calm voice. "There will probably be heartless so don't take any chances."

Sora probably knew this better than anyone else. Heartless were the darkness in one's heart made real. Those that lost their hearts, or willingly gave in to the darkness became heartless. They acted on pure instinct, mindlessly collecting hearts in an attempt to recover what they lost. In his previous journey the heartless not only targeted people but actual worlds. Each world had a heart of their own and when that heart was overrun with heartless the world would simply disappear.

Destiny Islands was also at one time overrun by heartless and that's what lead to the start of Sora's journey and his discovery of the keyblade. He traveled the worlds in search of each world's keyhole. Sealing a world's keyhole with the keyblade would stop the world from being overrun. The keyblade was a mysterious sentient weapon that chose its master and had the ability to open or close any lock. In reality it was what the heartless most feared. Sora remembered Leon telling him that as long as he wielded the keyblade the heartless would continue to come after him.

At one point Sora also became a heartless, it happened more than a year before in Hollow Bastion's castle. In order to save Kairi he sacrificed himself. It was also because of Kairi that he was able to regain his heart. What he wouldn't know until much latter was that the incident had also given birth to the nobodies Roxas and Naminé. Nobodies were the empty shells left behind when a strong hearted person lost their hearts. They had no hearts like heartless, but rather than acting on instinct they could reason and plan. Organization XIII was made up of nobodies, Roxas was a former member too. Although they were only trying to be whole again, their methods for accomplishing that were less than saintly.

"Don't worry I'll try to be careful." Sora said grinning.

"We are counting on you." Aerith said calmly.

"We will keep you posted from here." Cid said.

After saying goodbyes to everyone Sora left for Hollow Bastion's gummi hangar. There he chose his gummi ship for this journey: The Phoenix. This red ship was a little project he started when Chip and Dale taught him to build gummi ships. It took a lot of work to obtain the parts, but in the end he was happy with the results. It had a lot of speed and was easy to maneuver, while at the same time it had powerful weapons and a decent shield. The take off was swift since Sora was now used to flying ´solo´, he admitted that his flying wasn't exactly graceful at first, but years of practice had taken care of that.

The journey took longer than Sora expected. He knew the world he was looking for was far away but this was something else. Before he knew it Sora had passed most of the planets he knew and a few he had never seen before. Because there were no heartless ships in the radar and there was still a long way to go, Sora decided to leave the ship on autopilot so that he could rest a little.

_'I wonder what Kairi is doing right now I feel bad for leaving without telling her goodbye.' _Thought Sora as he pulled out Kairi's silver charm bracelet.

_**'Don't worry we all know what's at stake her. Riku and Kairi aren't trying to be your ball and chain, they're trying to help you.' **_Replied Roxas. _**'Besides the sooner you finish the mission, the sooner you get to see Kairi.'**_

'Yeah the sooner we finish the sooner YOU get to see Naminé.' Sora said with a smirk on his face.

_**'Lets just get some rest and focus on the mission tomorrow.'**_ replied the nobody. Despite the response Sora could feel him blushing.

Knowing what his other self was feeling felt weird. At first some of Roxas's feelings seemed to express themselves through Sora. He first noticed this when saying goodbye to Hayner and the others before heading to Yen Sid's Tower. Despite being their first meeting Sora had inexplicably shed a tear. Roxas knew Hayner and the rest, the ones he knew however were inhabitants of a virtual Twilight Town. His memory had been wiped clean and he was given a new identity to throw off the organization while Sora's memories were being restored. During that period of time Roxas became good friends with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Sora was sure that the real Twilight Town gang had been affected by their virtual selves, otherwise they wouldn't have felt that they knew Sora, or even see him off at the train station.

After saying goodnight to each other the lights in the cockpit were turned off and the engine was set on slow, tomorrow they would reach their destination. The gummi ship continued to float silently in the vast reaches of space, like a small sailboat in an endless ocean. Outside Sora could see the glow of many unknown worlds, the enticing luminescence of nebulas and the dreamlike beauty of galaxies light years away. The Keyblade master closed his eyes after seeing the beautiful display, in his mind the only thing he could think of were his friends. Soon enough he was fast asleep.

The next morning Roxas woke up to the sound of the auto pilot announcing that they had finally reached their destination. As a result, the task of waking Sora up fell on his shoulders. Roxas quickly realized that just telling him to wake up wasn't enough, he had tried. Instead he separated himself from Sora like he occasionally would. Once Roxas's transparent self appeared next to the keyblade master, he proceeded to push him off the makeshift bed he had been sleeping on. Sora woke up on shock after realizing he was on the cold floor and that his head hurt. After seeing Roxas's transparent yet very tangible self in front of him, it became obvious of what had happened. Roxas reunited with Sora in a display of blue light as soon as their argument was over. Sora then proceed to land The Phoenix on the strange world they had been sent to, sending a message to Cid to announce their arrival.

* * *

In Radiant Garden Cid had already woken up. He was headed to Merlin's house to check if he had gotten any news from Sora. The reading had become stronger than it was the day before. This worried him. Whatever it was couldn't be good. They had never gotten a reading like that before, even the reading they got form The World That Never Was wasn't as ambiguous as this was. The sound of an incoming message brought him back to reality.

"Mr. Highwind." Said an male voice coming from the Computer, it didn't sound natural in fact it sounded like it was computer generated.

" Any news Tron?" Said Cid. "Oh and didn't I tell you to stop calling me Mr. Highwind? It makes me feel old."

"Yes Sir. I have some disturbing news about the strange readings." Said Tron. "It would appear as though the disturbances were caused by a massive increase in the world's gravitational field. This is a very rare event, as a result I did a thorough search of the DTD to see if Ansem, my former user, had come across an event as such."

"So did you find anything?" Cid asked, he was getting impatient.

"I am afraid so, if Sora is there it is imperative that you contact him and tell him to retreat immediately." Said Tron in a serious tone. "I am afraid that the last time this happened, it occurred to a rather old world. The increased gravitational pull caused what you may know as a black hole, this began consuming the world internally. The strain on the world also caused heartless to swarm it, in a few hours the world was obliterated from existence."

* * *

The world was like nothing Sora had seen before, it looked desolate and old, a depressing yet eerie gray aura surrounded it. Most of it was covered in a thick fog though a couple of crumbling ruins would occasionally stick out. There seemed to be no signs of life whatsoever, not even a plant. Deep down Sora had the feeling that something was terribly wrong. The feeling only got stronger as he moved further on, it was begging him to turn around and get back to the gummi ship. Sora had to be very careful of where he stepped, crumbling pieces of rock were scattered on the ground, the fog made things worse by making it impossible to see where he was going. Sora continued to tread carefully, alert to any possible danger.

So far Sora had avoided summoning the keyblade because it brought too much attention to himself. If there were heartless here summoning the keyblade would only make them swarm towards him. He had gotten to a relatively circular area with four pillars standing in the center forming a perfect square. He also realized it was very cold, he could perfectly see his breath and his fingers were starting to get numb. He continued to walk occasionally casting a weak fire spell to keep himself warm.

_**'I don't like the looks of** **this.**_**'** Roxas said in a serious tone.

_'I know, something feels seriously wrong with this place, I don't like it.'_ Sora replied.

_**'Listen I am getting the feeling we shouldn't be here.'**_ Roxas said in a low voice, even though the conversation took place in Sora's mind and no one could possibly hear it.

_'You're right, there haven't been signs of any heartless yet, something's wrong._' Sora said in a similar way as he continued walking. _'I say that we continue for another five minutes, if we don't find anything we head back. I don't think we can battle heartless properly here.'_

Just as he said that a huge tremble caught him off guard and made him fall to his knees. The fog around him seemed to clear a bit as he heard the earth cracking beneath his feet breaking the eerie silence. Sora quickly got up and jumped out of harms way as the land underneath him began to crumble and fall. He quickly made a run for it. The previously safe ground he had stepped on was now crumbling under his feet. Once on solid ground Sora looked behind him panting. He was at the edge of a cliff, a swirling vortex of darkness lay underneath the ground he had once stood on. The sound of thunder and destruction flooded the air. Another sound caught his attention though, an all to familiar hiss. Shadows began to circle him and soon enough he was surrounded by yellow eyes. It was the heartless.

* * *

The sound of running could barely break the eerie silence. A single lonely figure was desperately making his way across the fog that covered most of the dark area. It was a boy barely in his teens, he had spiky brown hair and wore a strange outfit. It consisted of black shorts with red pouch-like bags at the side of either leg, attached by yellow straps. A blue and red shirt was worn underneath a black hoodie, a crown pendant hung from his neck swinging side to side as he ran. The teen also wore fingerless gloves, oversized shoes with a similar design as the rest of his clothes. His most amazing feature however were his eyes, they were a beautiful shade of azure. Their beauty however was shadowed by the uneasiness that the eyes expressed.

Sora warily eyed his surrounding as he continued running, he knew he was being followed. He also knew that if he didn't get back he would die, or worse. Sora looked down to see that he could see his own breath, it was colder than he thought, to make things worse he could barely see where he was going because of the thick fog. Suddenly the brunette felt a chilling sensation down his spine followed by goose bumps, he knew the sensation all to well, THEY were coming.

This brought us back to the beginning. How a simple mission had turned out for the worst. Sora was now running for his life in a hostile dying world far away from the comfort of his world. Truth was he couldn't afford to stop and fight, he was on a time limit. The world around him was crumbling as he ran. Running from the heartless didn't leave him unharmed however, he was covered in scratches that stung as he continued to move. Occasionally he would cast a spell when he became surrounded, or too wounded, but he was getting tired, he couldn't keep this up for much longer. In his mind Roxas urged him to continue but soon he couldn't hear Roxas well. It was like there was some kind of interference.

* * *

Cid was typing frantically into his computer and shouting at the communicator. Since hearing the disturbing discovery from Tron he had not stopped sending messages to Sora. The HBRC had all gathered around Cid in hopes of contacting the keyblade master. Unfortunately Sora hadn't responded. This meant he had already left the gummi ship. To make matters worse the readings were getting stronger and stronger. If Sora did not leave the world soon he would get caught up in the chaos. Cid didn't even want to think of what would happen to Sora. He was the first one to find the keyblade master when his world was destroyed. A huge feeling of guilt flooded Cid, it was partially his fault that Sora found himself in that situation, the other members didn't feel any better. At this rate it was a matter of minutes before the world was destroyed.

* * *

Sora stopped, panting heavily. He had finally reached the open area with the pillars, the gummi ship wasn't far now. He wiped the cold sweat from his brow, his heart was racing and he felt cold daggers in his chest, as he tried to move his muscles ached in protest. Sora moved to the center of the area as the fog surrounding his feet swirled. Suddenly heartless began to swarm around Sora, yellow eyes surrounded him blocking his escape. Casting magic had drained Sora, as a result Sora had no choice but to use the keyblade. He extended his arm a flash of light appeared before him, once it dissipated a magnificent blade appeared in his hand. It glowed radiantly like a beacon of light in the darkest of nights, it brought him hope and reminded him of an old promise: it was Oathkeeper.

Just as he was about to strike a neoshadow, Sora felt a similar tremble under his feet. He quickly jumped back in fear that the earth would fall beneath his feet. The atmosphere around him changed, the fog retreated to reveal a pool of growing darkness just inches from him, blocking the exit. The darkness continued to grow as wisps of darkness appeared from the pool. Around him the heartless that had previously surrounded him began to retreat, in a desperate attempt of self-preservation. Soon the darkness covered most of the area, from it a load roar could be heard. Sora braced himself, his injuries hurt and he was tired, but it wasn't like he had a choice.

Before Sora knew it, a large behemoth of a heartless stood before him. It was huge, almost the size of Groundshaker though Sora didn't even want to entertain that thought. It was black like the darkness that spawned it, and stood on all fours swinging its spiked tail. It had hooves on its hind legs and huge red claws in the front. The creature's front legs, chest and neck were concealed underneath a flaming mane of darkness. On its back were several wisps of darkness moving around wildly like the tentacles of an anemone. The heartless had two huge twisted horns on it's head that pointed forward menacingly. It had a long beastly snout with jagged teeth, black fire flared from its mouth as it breathed. Its evil yellow eyes stared at Sora intently like a predator would look at prey. A deafening roar emanated from the creature as it lunged forth and attacked.

To be continued…

* * *

**Crystal: "Hello I´m Crystal, Canis´s best friend and beta reader. I must say that making my best friend get addicted to fanfictions to the point where she started her own has made me feel good. Dont´t worry, I´m hitting her over the head right now for the cliffhanger."**

**Canis: "Owww that hurt! Was that really necessary?"**

**Crystal: "If you´re still annoyed with her, sorry but I need her alive since she´s like a sister to me."**

**Canis: "Anyways Chapter 3 will be up soon. Reviews are greatly appreciated, I would really like to hear what you guys think of the story so far."**

**Canis and Crystal out.**


	3. Struggle

**Hero´s Heart Chapter 3: Struggle**

**Fixed some mistakes!**

**This Chapter took longer to write for some reason. Anyways if you have any comments or recommendations with the story or my writing don't hesitate and just tell me. I don't bite, WAIT no that's a lie I DO bite…anyways you get the idea. Thanks to ninjawitch93 for being the first and only to review! Oh and about the giant heartless that attacks Sora in the previous chapter, if you have trouble picturing it I based it on the design of behemoth monsters in FFX with some tweaks (red claws, fiery mane, hoofs, ect). Oh and the wispy things on its back are like tentacles, its just that the word "tentacles of darkness" gives me a rather nasty image if you know what I mean lol. Anyways lets get back to the story…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, enough said.**

**Oh and this will be the last time I warn about THE MASSIVE SPOILERS in the story, since I think its kind of pointless considering that this is the third chapter and a fair amount have already been revealed. **

**For future reference:**

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

**_'Nobody Thoughts (Roxas/Naminé)'_**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Although Destiny Islands was known for its white sandy beaches and amazing weather, today was different. Kairi looked at the sky as she walked down the path from her house, something about the clouds made her feel uneasy. They were still menacing, like the calm before a storm, staring down at her, watching her. They were omens of misfortune. Kairi thought for a moment that she was just being paranoid about this. Maybe all she needed was to calm down, and get her mind off of things.

It hadn't even been a day since Riku told Kairi about Sora's mission. Even though Sora had left in a hurry and didn't say goodbye to her, that wasn't what bothered her the most. Sora had only been back for a few weeks or so from his last adventure, and ever since they got separated when the islands were attacked they had spent very little time together. Much like Riku, Kairi knew very well what horrible things would happen if Sora didn't go on these missions. After all, the worlds were at stake. Still Kairi sometimes wished that for once somebody else could save the worlds, for once she feared that Sora might not make it back.

Sora was in constant danger because of his worldly duties; he even lost his heart once because of it. Right now she really wanted to spend more time with Sora, even though thinking this made her feel selfish. She wanted to be with him and Riku just like when they were small, and they would be together living without a care in the world. Kairi didn't want some heroic armored knight; she wanted the boy she grew up with, the boy that always managed to put a smile on her face, the one boy that held the fate of the worlds on his shoulders. How he always managed to smile at the end of the day was beyond her, it was one of the things she liked about him.

Kairi pulled out a very familiar object from her pocket. It was a star shaped charm made of thalassa shells held together by thread. Its nacre interior reflected the colors of the rainbow when struck by light. She had given this good luck charm to Sora in Traverse Town with the promise that he would bring it back to her. In the end, after defeating Organization XIII in The World That Never Was, he did.

_'Maybe if I had given this to Sora before he left on his mission I wouldn't have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.'_ Lamented Kairi, as she began to feel tears rolling down her face.

_**'Please don't worry Kairi, I'm sure Sora will come back.**_**'** Naminé said shyly, in her soft tone of voice. _**'Sora isn't the type of person that will let himself get defeated.' **_

_'You're right.' _Kairi said. _'Sora just has to come back, I know he will.'_

Riku had just left a store with groceries in his arms. The sky that day was rather strange, it looked menacing, like it was holding back a storm. He decided that it would be best to hurry home if the storm decided to break out. That wasn't what most bothered him thought, deep down he felt that something was not right. More importantly he felt that it had to do with Sora. wherever he was, Riku had the ominous feeling something was wrong with his friend.

The wind was already starting to blow strongly against the many palm trees on the islands. He could see the distinct flashes of lighting in the distance followed by the thunder. He quickly opened the umbrella he was carrying with him when he started feeling the cold droplets of water hit his face. On his way he met an unexpected encounter. Kairi was also making her way back, and judging by her puffy eyes, she had been crying. Riku felt racked with guilt at the sight of her, he felt partially responsible of letting Sora go. Riku approached his friend; she was soaking wet and was glancing down at the ground as she walked.

"Huh." Kairi said, as she realized that the rain no longer fell on her. She looked up to see Riku holding up his umbrella to cover them both.

"You shouldn't be out here in the rain, you're soaking wet." Riku said. His eyes showed he was worried, not just because of his friend being entirely soaked. "Lets hurry to my house and get you dry, at this rate your gonna catch one heck of a cold."

"OK." Kairi said sniffing as she wiped some tears from her face. She had just barely stopped crying after Naminé´s attempt to cheer her up. She knew that Riku was aware of what was going through her mind.

Even though he remained quiet on their way back, Kairi knew that Riku was worried about Sora as well. After the islands were destroyed and Kairi had lost her heart, Riku gave in to the darkness. Because of that he joined Malificent in her evildoings and was eventually possessed by Xenahort´s heartless. Even after everything that Riku had done, Sora never gave up on his friend. After he was stuck with King Mickey in The Dark Realm, Sora never stopped looking for him. And even when he was stuck in Xenahort´s form, Sora not only accepted him, but he also fell to his knees telling him how he had missed him. After everything that Sora had done for him, Riku refused to give up on his friend.

* * *

When looking at the sky at night one would never imagine that far away in a far-off desolate planet, so much could be at stake. In fact many people would barely even notice this small world amongst the other more colorful ones that filled the sky. Little would anyone know that the desolate world, the one that had always been overlooked was about to cease to exist. To many it would appear to simply blink out of the night, sky never to be seen again. Unfortunately for one boy what he would be far from a blink, considering the he was fighting for his life in the middle of the dying world.

Sora had barely any time to dodge as the giant heartless attacked, in his hurry he fell on his stomach; a barrier of black fire had made his escape impossible. Sora was left with no option but to stand and fight. Because of its size dodging was more difficult; in fact it was a miracle that Sora was not skewered by the creature's horns. Sora was very surprised at the creature's speed since it did not match its size. Its movement was fast and unpredictable, to make things worse Sora was tired and sore from his previous struggle.

The heartless let out a deafening roar as he turned around and charged at Sora who had barely any time to get up. Sora looked up in shock to see the creature coming towards him. Without a second thought Sora quick-ran out of its path, he was glad he had been training his drive forms otherwise he would have been toast. Once behind the creature, Sora leaped into the air and attempted to slash its hind legs. Letting out an angry roar the heartless slammed him square in the chest with its huge tail. Sora flew back from the attack, the speed of the attack made him unable to recover midair and instead he hit the ground hard. Sora had to force himself up, despite the fact that his body protested his actions.

Sora got up just in time to narrowly avoid a swipe from the creature's massive claws. He was barely given any time to recover from the heartless´s string of attacks. At this rate he would never make it. Sora remembered some advice from Donald; sometimes magic was more efficient with some types of heartless more than others, magic was also especially useful if one couldn't reach the target. Sora quickly ran across the area where the fight took place, dodging the dark wisps on the creature's back as they whipped at him, as well as its tail that was furiously swishing side to side. As soon as he felt the magical energy return to him, he raised the keyblade and focused that energy into an attack. A tingling sensation ran up Sora's arm as crackling sparks flew from the keyblade. Just then a huge thunder fell from the sky and hit the creature in the back. Unfortunately it seemed more annoyed than hurt as it shook it off, roared and charged straight towards Sora.

_'Its no use, nothing seems to work against it!'_ Sora thought as he tried to jump out of the way. The creature´s wisps lunged at him, though thankfully Sora managed to dodge them midair thanks to the ability he gained from master form (aerial dodge).

_**'Don't give up Sora there has to be a way!'**_ Roxas yelled at him from his mind, he seemed just as frustrated as Sora at this point. _**'Try to find its weak spot. Since magic and physical attacks don't seem to work, finding its weak point is you're only option!'** _

Just then the heartless turned around to face Sora who had landed from his jump a few meters away, a large purple orb of darkness appeared on the creature´s forehead as it opened its jaws to release a jet of black fire. This caught Sora by surprise, thankfully he had enough time to cast reflect. A barrier of transparent hexagons enveloped him, protecting him from the black inferno. The barrier disappeared once it was over, and reflected the damage back to the heartless, temporarily stunning it.

_'That has got to be it!'_ Sora thought as he looked at the purple orb on the creature's forehead.

Sora quickly pointed his keyblade at the orb while the heartless was stunned. He used the same magical energy from before, this time he felt a cold breeze as the tip of Oathkeeper became covered in frost. Ice shot from the tip as Sora shouted "BLIZZARD!". This time the heartless roared in pain as the spell hit the target perfectly, making it disappear. It began to kick its hind legs like an angry bull, the earth shook beneath it as it charged around the area knocking down the ruins in its path.

Sora looked at the heartless with a bit of surprise and relief. He finally knew how to beat it. It wasn't time to celebrate though, as he still needed to beat it fast. He wiped the sweat off his brow, panting as he quickly assessed the situation around him; two of the pillars in the centered the area had been demolished by the heartless. The destruction of the world had expanded further, now reaching the corners of the area he was fighting in. He didn't have much time. He looked down at himself as he saw his condition was worse than he thought. Many of the scratches on his body were bleeding; a mixture of blood, sweat, and dirt covered his skin. He had not only scrapped his knees and elbows, but most of his body felt heavily bruised. If he was planning to survive he would need to finish this fast, this meant he would have to strike the weak point directly with the keyblade.

Sora quickly got in position in the middle of the square formed by the four pillars in the center of the area. Taking a deep breath he cast a weak blizzard spell to get the creature's attention. The heartless turned around to look at his attacker, and roared furiously making the ground tremble. The heartless charged towards the keyblade master, its head lay low in an attempt to run him through with its horns Intimidating as it was Sora was ready. He stood in front of one of the remaining pillars, luring the heartless to the middle of the square. Before the attack could hit Sora, he quick-ran towards the adjacent pillar making the heartless crash straight into the pillar he had previously been in front of. The result was just as Sora had predicted, the now furious heartless turned around to face the keyblade master, a similar purple orb appeared on its forehead again, black fire flared from its jaws.

Sora knew exactly what to do, instead of casting reflect again he raced towards the pillar behind him. The black fire burned underneath him as he ran vertically on the pillar jumping off at the top. Sora turned around midair to face the heartless. He quickly threw Oathkeeper like a boomerang at the heartless below him, stunning it. Sora quickly summoned the keyblade back to his hand and pointed it downward plunging it directly into the purple orb on the heartless´s forehead. The heartless shrieked in pain as Sora jumped from its head, Oathkeeper in hand, and slowly the heartless began to disappear in a pool of darkness.

Sora was tired and panting as he looked at the heartless dissolving less than a meter in front of him. He realized that it was still not time to rest as he hadn't made it back to the gummi ship yet. Sora turned towards the exit that had previously been blocked by dark flames. Before he could even take a step an immense pain emanated from his chest. Sora looked down horrified to see that two wisps from the creature´s back had just lunged from the pool and had impaled him through the chest. In his mind Roxas shouted his name in shock. Sora saw a warm light appearing from his chest, he had only seen it once before. It happened when he impaled himself with the dark keyblade in Hollow Bastion. Without a doubt that was his heart. Sora snapped from his shock and struck the impaling wisps with the keyblade. The pool of darkness finally disappeared completely as the earth beneath Sora shook once more, around him everything had begun to collapse. Sora was on his knees breathing heavily and clutching his chest. Although his heart was saved, he could feel the darkness flow inside him like a horrible painful venom.

_**'Sora come on, you gotta get up!' **_Roxas cried. There was a desperate tone in his voice, he knew Sora was badly wounded.

_'I-I can't make it.'_ Sora replied. Tears were starting to form in his eyes, the pain was almost unbearable.

**_'Don't give up, just a little longer!'_** Roxas continued, but to Sora, Roxas's voice was beginning to fade out.

_'Ka-Kairi, Riku.'_ Sora thought, as he reached for his pocket to touch a familiar silver charm bracelet.

The world around him seemed to fade slowly, everything seemed so unreal. He couldn't hear the destruction around him anymore; truth was he couldn't really feel it either. In the back of his head Roxas's voice continued to call to him, but Sora couldn't make out the words anymore. He looked up to see the destruction around him; he was now in a lone platform of land, swirling darkness lay at the bottom of the abyss. Despite the sight he felt detached from the world around him. His sight began to blur as he became lightheaded, he could no longer feel the pain from his many injuries. Soon enough darkness filled his vision and he lost consciousness. Destruction soon engulfed the entire world.

* * *

In Radiant Garden, the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee gathered around Cid´s computer. They all looked in shock and disbelief at the screen. Where Sora's gummi ship signal was beeping seconds ago, now a large red "Lost Signal" had replaced it. Everyone was silent. Cid looked away from the screen, his eyes cast down at the somber moment. Cloud had his head low to obscure his features and left without words, followed by a sad Tifa, who understood the emotional response from the otherwise stoic hero. Squall also left in an attempt to clear his mind from the painful loss of the cheery keyblade master. Yuffie protested, unwilling to believe what had just happened, and soon ran out of the house in tears. Aerith sat on the bed with both her hands together in what could only be a prayer. Her eyes closed, letting tears roll down her face.

When looking at the night sky one would never imagine all the many worlds out there. To those that looked at the stars that night, there was never a more beautiful, awe-inspiring sight. Many of them however missed to see a single, lonely, gray star blink out of existence.

* * *

**Canis: "Ok that's it for chapter 3! I hope you enjoyed it, and please review ^-^"**

**Crystal: "Wait so what happened to Sora? " **

**Canis: "Don´t worry do you seriously think I would kill Sora in Chapter 3? "**

**Crystal: "Wait so he is OK? "**

**Canis: "Can't really say for sure, I mean he did get pretty beaten back there…" **

**Crystal: "Yeah cause of YOU! " **

**Canis: "Don't worry he is actually one of my favs! Seriously this story is centered around him but for it to work he is gonna have to get beaten a bit. Its only equivalent exchange. "**

**Crystal: "…OK. Can you at least give the readers a preview for the next chapter? " **

**Canis: "… OK fine" ( snaps fingers as a piece of parchment appears in a puff of smoke) **

**Crystal: O.o "How did you do that? "**

**Canis: "Its my fic I can do pretty much anything. " **

* * *

**Special Secret:**

Sora could not even bring himself to open his eyes. He had no idea where he was, yet it seemed vaguely familiar, like he had been here before. The floor felt like cobblestone, it was damp and cold. He was currently leaning on a wall. He was so tired, and in so much pain. He had no idea for how long he could stay conscious. He could hear the faint sound of footsteps closing in, but he had no energy to even react. Soon enough he began to hear voices.

"So I told him to forget about it." Said one of the voices, it seemed to belong to a man. "Hey what's that over there?"

Sora heard the footsteps get closer and soon he felt a gentle nudge on the shoulder. Sora groaned weakly in response, he attempted to open his eyes only to get a blurry image.

"I think he's still alive, but he needs urgent attention!" The voice said. "Quick, go to Mogster and tell him to come to the alley, tell him that it's an emergency and to bring the others!"

"OK, I´ll be right back kupo." Said another voice leaving. This one had a higher pitch and sounded familiar to Sora.

"Don't worry, everything is going to be OK." Said the man in a reassuring voice.

The world around Sora seemed to spin again, just as his vision began to darken. Soon enough fatigue overcame him. Closing his tired eyes, he once again lost consciousness.

* * *

**Canis: "OK, I hope you liked it. I would also like you to guess where Sora ended up, a couple of hints were given. "**

**Crystal: "I also hope you guys review, if you have any suggestions just say so! "**

**Canis: "Canis and Crystal out! " (throws smoke bomb and disappears)**


	4. Safe?

**Hero's Hearts Chapter 4: Safe?**

**Sorry for the delays lately, I have had a couple of things to do with my family so writing wasn't exactly easy. Anyways thanks to everyone who has been reading this story. Despite the lack feedback, the reviews that I have gotten are positive. So I am going to assume everyone's happy with the story so far (with the exception of the cliffhangers everyone despises) . I would still like to see what you guys think of this little project of mine, so again reviews are greatly appreciated! Oh and thanks to my friend Crystal for going over each chapter to look for mistakes, which I was too tired (or lazy) to look over myself.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Enough said.**

**Anyways on with the story! **

* * *

Sora could not even bring himself to open his eyes. He had no idea where he was, yet it seemed vaguely familiar, like he had been here before. The floor felt like cobblestone, it was damp and cold. He was currently leaning on a wall. He was so tired, and in so much pain. He had no idea for how long he could stay conscious. He could hear the faint sound of footsteps closing in, but he had no energy to even react. Soon enough he began to hear voices.

"So I told him to forget about it." Said one of the voices, it seemed to belong to a man. "Hey what's that over there?"

Sora heard the footsteps get closer and soon he felt a gentle nudge on the shoulder. Sora groaned weakly in response, he attempted to open his eyes only to get a blurry image.

"I think he's still alive, but he needs urgent attention!" The voice said. "Quick, go to Mogster and tell him to come to the alley, tell him that it's an emergency and to bring the others!"

"OK, I´ll be right back kupo." Said another voice leaving. This one had a higher pitch and sounded familiar to Sora.

"Don't worry, everything is going to be OK." Said the man in a reassuring voice.

The world around Sora seemed to spin again, just as his vision began to darken. Soon enough fatigue overcame him. Closing his tired eyes, he once again lost consciousness.

* * *

_She stood in the spotlight, surrounded by misty darkness._

_In front of her a figure lay unconscious, head down._

_She knelt down next to the figure, and rolled him so that she could see who it was._

_She was shocked to see the pale, nearly corpselike face of her friend Sora._

_He had a huge gash in his chest. _

_A liquid started oozing from it, staining his clothes._

_Surprisingly it wasn't blood; it was a thick black liquid. _

_Wisps of darkness sprouted from his chest and wrists, as the liquid continued to flow._

_Soon his entire body was covered in the black liquid._

_Black claws and fangs began to grow, Yellow glowing eyes opened._

_She could only watch in panic as "Sora" lunged at her._

Kairi woke up screaming, she was gasping for breath with tears rolling down her face. Looking around her room, it became obvious that it was just a dream, a horrible, disturbing, realistic dream. Kairi wiped the tears with the sleeve of her pajama, and tried to stop shaking. She listen intently hoping that her screaming hadn't woken the entire house. The clock on her nightstand read 5:15 am; in others words too early to wake up, but too late go back to sleep. She wasn't even sure if she would be able to go back to sleep after that. Instead she pulled of the covers and got up.

_**'Are you alright Kairi?'**_ Naminé asked sleepily. It appeared that her nobody had just woken up. She sounded concerned, and she had a right to too. Sharing the same heart made Naminé aware of pretty much everything that was going on with Kairi.

_'Yeah, that dream really shook me up.'_ Kairi replied. _'I'm really worried about Sora. First that eerie feeling, now this? Sora left the islands three days ago, maybe I'm just being impatient but should a simple mission really take this long?'_

_**'You're right, something is definitely going on.'**_ Naminé said. After taking Sora's memories apart in Castle Oblivion, it became clear to her that Sora's heart was strongly connected to Kairi's. She remembered that Roxas had once been able to contact Kairi when he fell from the clock tower in Twilight Town, this in return made Kairi contact Sora. Their hearts were truly connected. So it was plausible that maybe, perhaps, the strange occurrences that they had experienced were in fact due to Sora's heart trying to contact them.

_**'Then it's settled!**_' Kairi thought. Once everyone woke up she would call Riku, then they would try and contact the HBRC.

She walked over and opened her music box, the delicate tune (Sora´s Sacrifice Theme) rang as she took her all-too-familiar thalassa shell charm from it. The charm looked different, its mother-of-pearl iridescence looked somewhat dull and faded. Kairi looked at it once more before she put it in her pocket, dismissing the dull color as an illusion caused by the light.

* * *

Sora lazily opened his eyes, only to get a blurry image of the world around him. His body was killing him, though it wasn't nearly as bad as before. He had no idea where he was, all he knew was that he had lost consciousness and was currently lying on a bed. That scenario seemed vaguely familiar, it gave him an overwhelming feeling of déjà vu.

Sora finally understood why when his vision cleared. He was lying on a bed in a small room, it had yellow wallpaper but it had an overall green color. Many artworks were hung on the walls, above the door to his left was a cuckoo clock, to his right was a window with a view of the alley outside, next to the window was a door that led to the balcony, and besides the furniture there was also a circular table with chairs surrounding it. At the moment a tiny figure was sitting down playing what was apparently solitaire.

_**'What exactly happened?' **_Roxas said somewhat dazed. _**'Wait, where are we?'**_

'I don´t know, I though we were goners. But somehow we made it to Traverse Town, I guess we were lucky.' Sora replied without giving it much thought, he was too tired for that right now. Sora was unusually calm for someone who had just had a near death experience, but then again this wasn't the first time he had a near death experience. It also wasn't the first time he lost consciousness and woke up in a strange place. Now that he thought about it, when he first met Leon he lost consciousness and woke up in the same bed that he was lying on right now. That explained the déjà vu, in fact he half expected to find Leon and Yuffie in the any rate, Sora knew that he was safe now, after all he was very familiar with Traverse Town. It was the first world he visited after Destiny Islands were destroyed. Roxas also knew this since he had seen it in Sora's memories. Traverse Town had a special place in Sora's heart. It was where he met the HBRC members (minus Cloud and Tifa), as well as the king's guards: Donald and Goofy. It was where he first learned about the heartless and the keyblade This was the place where Kairi gave him her charm, it was where he made his promise to her. To tell the truth Traverse Town was where his adventure started.

_**'Sora are you sure you're OK? You got hurt pretty badly.'**_ Roxas asked. The serious tone of his voice told Sora that Roxas was really worried about him. He had the right to be worried too, it was nothing less than a miracle that he was still alive and whole.

_'I'm Ok, at least I'm better than before. Looks like someone patched me up while I was out.' _Sora replied. He was still bruised all over, he had just noticed the many bandages that covered his body. He felt very weak, a part of him still yearned for rest. There was also an unusual pain in his chest, right where the heartless stabbed him. Sora also felt unusually heavy, as if he had a weight pushing down on him. He decided to sit up but the pain from his injuries made him wince.

"Oh, you're finally awake kupo!" Said the figure sitting at the table, Sora had almost forgotten about it. "We were really worried when we found you kupo!"

It was a small creature with the size and built of a teddy bear. It was of a soft peach color, with a large pink nose, small purple bat wings (that despite their size somehow allowed them to fly) and a large red pompom hanging on top of its head. They were commonly known as moogles. They were strange creatures that specialized in the art of item synthesis, but would occasionally run holographic shops in different worlds too. According to some of the HBRC members, moogles also ran "Mognet" a special mailing service between worlds. In Traverse Town, moogles worked at the synthesis shop which was located in the first district above the accessory shop. There they made all sorts of curiosities from raw materials. Sora spent a lot of time synthesizing items, as a result he made many moogle friends.

Sora turned his attention to the door when he heard someone knock and then enter. It was a elderly man with graying hair and bushy brows. He wore brown pants, with a white shirt underneath a blue vest. He was carrying two bags with him, one in each arm. The man had a very kind face, one that reminded Sora of his grandfather. He seemed happy to see the keyblade master awake.

"Oh, I see our guest is finally awake." Said the man smiling. "I was quite shocked when my nephew brought you in. He said he found you injured, and passed out in the alley. Oh where are my manners? I'm Migelo, my nephew, Alfred runs the hotel."

"I'm Sora, nice to meet you." Sora said as he tried to get up. He groaned as his body ached in protest. "Thanks for bandaging me up."

"No need to introduce yourself Sora, we already know who you are. Beside we are only repaying you for all you have done for Traverse Town." Migelo said as he put the bags down on the table. "Oh my, the last time I saw you, you were still a wee boy! You have really grown since then."

Sora smiled at the comment, this man really was like a grandfather. Now that Sora thought about it, he did recall seeing Migelo around. Migelo was also right about his growth spurt, he grew a lot during that year he was asleep in Twilight Town's Mansion. Donald and Goofy had laughed when they saw that Sora's clothes no longer fit him. It was rather funny when he thought about it, the hotel's green room seemed smaller than he remembered, but that was only because of his own growth.

"Mr. Migelo kupo, should we tell him about the injuries kupo?" Said the moogle.

"Why yes, you're right Mogster, I almost forgot. At my age one tends to forget easily." Migelo said as he opened one of the bags, and pulled out a couple of Hi-Potions. He handed them to Sora. "Now drink these, they will make you feel better. I am also quite curious about how you got those injuries."

Sora obliged and quickly drank the Hi-Potions. His visible wounds quickly healed and disappeared as if they had never existed in the first place. The potions made him feel slightly better, although his chest still ached and felt heavy but this was a huge improvement. Once he was done contemplating the healing process he began to retell the events that lead to his awakening in Traverse Town.

"So it was the heartless kupo." Said Mogster. "That would explain the scratches, but there's still the matter of his other injury."

"Huh?" Said Sora. A serious silence had overcome the place. Migelo and Mogster exchanged glances before Migelo turned back to Sora.

"You see, when we first found you, most of us thought you weren't going to make it. When we found you, we quickly brought you over and applied various potions to stop the bleeding. Potions work better when the person who drinks them is conscious, but this was an emergency so we used them anyways so that we could at least stop the bleeding." Migelo stopped and took a long deep breath before he continued. "There was however, an injury that baffled us, it's the one located directly on your chest. Potions didn't heal it, neither did magic. According to the moogles, the injury was overflowing with darkness. In fact they didn't think you would make it. It was only until this morning when the wound began to close by itself. It's worrying becausewe found you two days ago. Unfortunately the mark left from the injury is nothing we have ever seen on a person before. I strongly suggest that you find a specialist, any injury left by a heartless can't be good."

"Anyways kupo, if you want I can contact Mog in Radiant Garden, he can tell the HBRC that you're OK." Mogster said. Sora absently nodded and with that the moogle flew out of the room.

"I believe it would be best if I left you to rest. There's food in the other bag if you are hungry." Migelo said as he turned towards the door and left.

Sora was in shock, he imagined he must have been found in a pretty bad condition, but usually he didn't take that long to recover. He couldn´t believe he had been out for two days, Leon and the others must have thought he died or something. Riku and Kairi were probably worried sick! But what plagued Sora most was what Migelo said about his chest wound.

_'What did he mean by, not seeing this on a person before?'_ Sora thought as he looked down at the part of his shirt that covered his chest.

_**'Well, you´re gonna have to find out sooner or later.'**_ Roxas replied_**. 'It might as well be sooner.'**_

Sora nodded as he began to slowly take his hoodie off, followed by his shirt, the pain was intense so he tried to avoid any sudden movements. After finally getting them off, Sora looked down at his chest in utter shock. Now he knew what Migelo meant. The wound was, about three inches long and two inches wide. The disturbing part however, was that the injury didn't leave a scar or a scab. Sora could feel the skin over the wound, but it wasn't normal skin; it was rough, insensitive to touch and of an eerie shade of black. Sora knew that black skin all to well; he had spent two years fighting the creatures that had it. Sora shook his head, this couldn't be happening. Why did his skin resemble that of a heartless? Was it because of the heartless that attacked him? What did it do to him? Would it get worse? Sora shuddered at the last question.

_'We have to get back!'_ Sora thought as he painfully got off the bed and began to put his clothes back on.

_**'I agree, but there's really nothing you can do for now.'**_ Roxas replied. _**'We are gonna have to wait for Mogster to contact the others so that they can come pick us up. Besides you are still injured. I highly doubt that you can fight the heartless right now. All you can really do right now is sleep, eat, and try to get better.'**_

Sora hated it when Roxas was right. If there was something that the keyblade master really hated, it was bed rest. He rolled around in bed for half an hour trying to find the most comfortable position to sleep, only to give up five minutes after finding it. He just couldn't sleep. He quickly got up and carefully walked towards the table, as to avoid the pain from his injuries. He opened the bag with food, but only ate a small bit. He didn't know why, but he just wasn't hungry. Maybe the shock from seeing his injuries had ruined his usually ravenous appetite. In any case Sora gave up and went to bed. Without anything else to do, he reached for Kairi's birthday present in his pocket and began to fidget with it. Soon a dreamless sleep took hold of him.

* * *

A robed figure walked slowlythrough the empty alleyway in Traverse Town. It was a green skinned woman, wearing robes that were mostly black, with some purple. The women's hair was not visible. Instead she had two horn-like projections on her head. She walked around with a staff and a crow on her shoulder. Her head was held up high in a snobbish fashion as she silently walked. She stopped walking and looked up towards the hotel; she was looking at the green room to be exact. Another figure soon joined her; this one was large but walked in a rather clumsy fashion. It resembled some kind of large humanoid animal and wore what looked like a blue, red, and white jumpsuit.

"So you finally decided to show up, you incompetent fool!" Said the woman. "It looks like the keyblade master has bitten off more than he can chew. Now is the time for us to strike! Did you prepare everything Pete?"

"Yes Maleficent, I mean, your highness. The heartless are in position." Said Pete.

"Once we get rid of that wretched brat and his key, nothing will stand in my way!" Malificent said as she began to cackle the way only an evil witch could. Soon both figures left the alley in the cover of green flames.

* * *

A day had passed since Sora first woke up in Traverse Town. Thanks to his fast healing rate and the many potions he had taken, most of his injuries had healed. Well most of then anyways, the injury on his chest hadn't gotten any better. It still hurt and he still had the feeling of weights pressing down on him. On the bright side, Migelo had finally allowed Sora to leave the hotel room and go and explore the town. That was a major relief for Sora; if he had to spend one more hour in that room he would go crazy.

Sora quickly made his way out of the hotel, thanking Alfred on his way to the Second District. A familiar sight greeted his eyes when he left the building. The Second District was rather lively; many people were going about their usual business. It was nice to see that the people were enjoying themselves as they no longer had to worry about the heartless.

The buildings were pretty much the same, except for the fact that more shops were open now. The Gizmo Shop stood to his left, Sora still had no idea what it was they made but the colorful interior made the place very odd and alluring. Next to the Gizmo shop was an alley that led to the house of the 101 Dalmatians. Sora still wondered what kind of sick villain would kidnap the puppies and put them in chests around the worlds. He entered the house and was greeted by Pongo and Perdita, apparently most of the puppies had been adopted by families in Traverse Town. Not that they were puppies anymore, a year had passed since his last visit, and apparently he wasn't the only one that grew. It took about ten minutes to get the dogs off of him. In the end he was tired and covered in drool.

Sora continued to wander the streets of Traverse Town. He passed the water fountain that doubled as the world's keyhole and made his way to the First District. He noticed that overall there were actually less people in Traverse Town than he remembered. It was to be expected since most of the people he'd seen on his last visit were refugees whose worlds had been destroyed. He went inside the synthesis shop and said hello to a couple of moogles that he knew, he also met some moogles that arrived after the worlds were restored. Unfortunately many of the people he had met in Traverse Town had gone back to their original worlds; such was the case with most of the HBRC. Geppeto, Pinocchio's father and a gummi ship engineer had also gone back to his world, but he did visit occasionally.

Sora continued to walk casually through the cobblestone streets. He had already passed down the stairs and was headed towards the restaurant when he heard screams in the distance. People were running from the Third District with panic in their eyes, and many of children were screaming.

"HEARTLESS!" Yelled a woman. In response many people started to run in different directions. A couple of men began to pull the gates to the Third District together.

Sora ran towards the gates and managed to make it through before they were completely closed. Although the men protested and told him to get back, Sora continued, after all they were probably unaware that he was the keyblade master. He ran towards to central square to be greeted by three neoshadows and two wyverns. After dodging an air attack from one of the wyverns Sora prepared his battle stance. The fight had begun. Sora quickly ran around and looked for an opening. The neoshadows sank into the ground in a pool of darkness and attempted to strike but thankfully Sora easily dodged them. Once Sora found and opening he extended his arm in front of him to summon the keyblade. But nothing happened.

"_WHAT THE?!"_ Sora yelled. For some reason he couldn't summon the keyblade. Sora was knocked backwards by a wyvern_. 'I can´t summon the keyblade!'_

_**'WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN´T SUMMON THE KEYBLADE?!' **_Roxas shouted. _**'Well what are you waiting for?! Do something!'**_

Sora was shocked, this was the first time this had ever happened to him. Despite the shock he was aware that he was still in the middle of a battle. He quickly focused as he felt a surge of electricity run through his fingertips. Sora waited for all the heartless to get near as he continued to charge the spell, when it was ready Sora released it instantly killing the heartless. Sora fell back, the spell had taken a lot from him. Just then, a neoshadow lunged at Sora from a pool of darkness that appeared in front of him. Sora tried to shield himself by putting his hands out in front of him. He was waiting for the attack to hit but instead a blinding light appeared in front of him. It was the keyblade. Realizing this the neoshadow fell back and began to hiss at Sora. Sora simply ran towards it and slashed it into two with the keyblade. Black smoke emanated from what was left of the neoshadow and soon it disappeared completely.

Sora dismissed Oathkeeper as he made it back to the First District. Despite the thanks from all of the townsfolk, he was still worried about what had happened earlier. For some unknown reason he couldn't summon the keyblade. This was actually the first time that had ever happened, but why now? Sora stretched his arm forward and experimentally tried to summon it again. With another flash of light, Oathkeeper appeared in his hand. Sora felt a wave of relief come over him, for a moment he was afraid that it wouldn't appear.

_**'That was definitely strange though, I really think you should try to get to the bottom of this.**_' Roxas said pensively.

_'Yeah, as soon as we get back I'm gonna ask Merlin about it, if anyone knows it's him.' _Sora thought. _'I also want to ask him about the wound on my chest, it hasn't stopped hurting. The skin also looks like a heartless´s. Do you think it has anything to do with this?'_

_**'At any rate, we have to wait for someone to pick us up.' **_Roxas said._** 'Don't worry I'm sure we will find the answers in Radiant Garden.'**_

* * *

**Canis: "Chapter 4 is finally done! It took forever to finish, and look, no cliffhanger this time!"**

**Crystal: "Well that was fun to read. You also sound quite happy with yourself."**

**Canis: "Yes I do. I had my hot chocolate. Anyways I would really like to thank the people who are reading this."**

**Crystal: "Can I have some hot chocolate?"**

**Canis: ****"No its mine! (Snarls)"**

**Crystal: "I think you had too much sugar. Put the cup down and slowly walk away from it."**

**Canis: ****"NO MINE! (Runs off)"**

**Crystal: "Great now I have to go get her. Anyways Chapter 5 will be up soon. Canis and Crystal out. HEY! GET BACK HERE! (Chases after her)"**

**Canis: "RAWR (Tackles Crystal into a dark portal)"**


	5. Resolute

**

* * *

**

Chapter 5: Resolute

**So here it is Chapter 5. I decided to post this now since I will be away with my family. This chapter won't be as interesting as the rest though, mostly its just emotional stuff with a bit of comedy. Anyways I would like to thank everybody for the positive feedback. Oh and I wanted to apologize for my small outbreak in the other chapter. I go crazy when given sweets, ESPECIALLY CHOCOLATE. Well that was an interesting fact. Ok moving on.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts (sniffle).**

**So on with the story!**

* * *

Leon looked outside to see the beautiful celestial artwork that was space. He didn't have time to contemplate however, after all Cid was driving. Cid continued to make sharp turns and twists to avoid the incoming asteroids. They were headed full speed towards Traverse Town. Although Leon was excited from the news that Sora was alive, he doubted that his stomach could stand anymore of Cid´s "unique" style of piloting. Yuffie was actually smart enough to stay in Radiant Garden, not that she didn't want to see Sora, it's just that she had motion sickness. Of course she knew Cid was driving. If his driving didn't make her empty her insides, nothing would.

"Can you please slow down before you crash the ship?" Leon groaned clutching his insides.

"Quit yer, whining, you wanna get off then jump off!" Cid said as he turned to face Leon. This unfortunately made him turn his eyes away from the road.

"Cid the road!" Leon shouted.

"Oh." Cid said. He quickly turned the steering wheel, barely dodging an incoming asteroid. "Hold on, we're almost there."

"How did I get myself into this?" Leon said. He winced as Cid accelerated.

* * *

Things had been very depressing for the HBRC. Everyone tried to get over the fact that one of their friends was no longer among them. They tried to carry out their duties like they had done before. It just didn't feel right. Sora's usual laughter had been replaced by a silence that nothing seemed to alleviate. There was a void that just couldn't be filled. It was almost like the year when everyone forgot about Sora; the same year he had spent sleeping. The only difference is that this time they knew what was missing. They also knew they could never get it back.

Cid sat on the seat in front of his computer. His feet were on the keyboard and he had seemingly fallen asleep while balancing his weight on the chair. Yuffie lay on the bed bored; she seemed to entertain herself by throwing shurikens at the wall nearby. Aerith sat at the table reading a seemingly boring book, at least her bored expression made it seem that way. Cloud had stopped by only to hear the bad news. At the moment he was just leaning against a wall, staring blankly into space. Tifa had gone to town to clear her mind. Leon had just come back from training, though its purpose was to take his mind off of things rather than to stay physically fit. Truth was, he was reluctant about returning to Merlin's place, he hated seeing the people he cared about like this. Merlin hadn't even heard the news yet, he was still in his world and unfortunately they just couldn't contact the wizard.

A loud crash was heard from outside as the door burst open. Tifa stood there panting. She held a moogle´s paw in each hand. The outburst startled most of the occupants of the room. Cid had woken up startled and fell backwards on the floor. Yuffie, who had been in the process of throwing a shuriken, missed and instead hit Aerith´s book. Aerith practically jumped up and let go of the book in surprise, unfortunately she tripped and fell backwards into a shelf with books. Because of the leverage created, one of the books flew towards Cloud. In the blink of an eye, Cloud snapped out of his trance-like state and sliced the book in two with the Buster Sword. The book pieces flew towards Leon who quickly incinerated them with a fire ball. Leon then turned towards the others who were trying to compose themselves from the domino-like chain reaction.

"Tif, what's wrong?" Cloud asked as he put away the Buster Sword.

"The moogles, they said they had important news from Traverse Town!" Tifa said. She was still trying to catch her breath, not that the moogles she had dragged along were any better. They clearly disliked being carried along like stuffed animals.

"Traverse Town eh? That's weird, we haven´t heard from them for a while." Cid said.

"Yeah what gives? I thought everything was fine in Traverse Town." Yuffie said.

"Is it the heartless?" Leon said in a serious tone.

"NO, I mean YES KUPO!" Said Mogster nervously and almost out of breath. He still hadn't regained his composure from being dragged through Radiant Garden by a freakishly strong woman. What's worse was that he didn't even get to explain what happened; everyone just seemed to attack him with questions.

"Well then what is it?" Aerith said turning to Mog. He seemed to be doing better than Mogster after all.

"He didn't exactly tell me what happened kupo. He just said that he needed to talk urgently with the HBRC kupopo." Said Mog as he quietly hovered in the spot.

"Well then, out with it!" Said Cid. Mogster simply held his paw up, signaling for the rest to give him a second to calm down.

"Sora kupo, is alive." Mogster said panting.

"WHAT!?" Cried the HBRC members in unison.

"Wait, are you sure it's Sora?" Leon asked. As much as he wanted it to be true, there was still a chance that there might have been some sort of mistake. After all, Sora's chances of surviving a disaster like that were unfortunately minimal.

"Yes kupo, we are sure. A brunette teen, wearing a mostly black outfit kupo." At the mention of this, a spark of hope seemed to ignite in everyone's hearts. "Sora was in a pretty bad shape when we found him kupo. He said something about escaping a planet kupo. I´m here because he asked me to come tell you guys that he is in Traverse Town."

"Well then, we have to go find him!" Yuffie said, in her usual cheery mood.

The news had definitely lifted her spirit. The same effect could be seen with the other members of the HBRC. Yuffie was practically jumping with joy. Leon looked towards the sky in relief, like a great weight had just been lifted from his shoulders. Even Cloud managed a small smile, but a smile nevertheless. Tifa smiled as she teased her favorite blonde for his single emotional expression in his otherwise stoic demeanor. Aerith simply laughed. She was not only happy about the news, but she also enjoyed the joyful scene around her.

"Ok, I'll go get the ship ready." Leon said as he turned towards the others.

"Wait, I need to get a couple of supplies for the trip." Cid said. He headed back to Merlin's place and got a large bag and a grease stained tool box.

"Wait you're coming?" Leon asked. Despite being a pilot and a gummi engineer, Cid disliked leaving Merlin's place. It was mostly due to fear that Yuffie would mess with the computer. It was so bad that in fact Yuffie was forbidden to look, let alone touch at Ansems's computer.

"Coming? What are you talking about? I'm not coming, I'm DRIVING!" Snapped a very determined Cid. "Now who else wants to come?"

This made the other HBRC members exchange worried and somewhat frightened glances to one another. Cid wasn't a bad pilot; he was just a dangerous one. Most of the HBRC members that were originally from Hollow Bastion knew this very well. After all when they were just kids and their world was destroyed, SOMEONE had to drive them out of the heartless infested planet. Needless to say it wasn't a pleasant trip. In fact most members still had some sort of mental scarring from the experience.

"Sorry I think I'll pass." Said Aerith as politely as she could manage.

"Nope, can't. Motion sickness remember?" Yuffie said pointing at herself. Amazingly even the thought of being in a Cid-driven gummi ship made her face turn green.

"Well what about you Cloud?…Cloud?" Cid said. He turned around to where the blonde had been previously standing only to notice that he wasn't there anymore. "Whatever, his loss. What about you Tifa?"

"I …uh. Need to go find Cloud!" Tifa said as she quickly left the scene.

"Well then, let's get going!" Cid yelled as he walked towards the gummi hangar.

"This is gonna be a LONG trip." Leon muttered to himself.

* * *

Leon continued to fiercely clutch his seat's arm rests. Thankfully his stomach was feeling better; the nauseous feeling was finally gone. Cid also slowed down as the trip seemed to be coming to an end. The massive cluster of asteroids was finally out of the way, and soon enough the gummi ship approached a very familiar world. Traverse Town slowly came to view as Cid prepared to land.

The landing had gone smoothly. Leon couldn't be happier to get off the gummi ship. In his mind he was worshipping the solid ground beneath him, and thanking his lucky stars that HE would be the one driving back to Radiant Garden. He just hoped that he would be able to fly properly, since at the moment his legs felt like jello. It was a side effect of Cid's reckless driving, one that hopefully would wear off before they headed back.

As soon as they left the gummi hangar, they headed past a large gate. This was the gate that led to the actual town. Leon still remembered it from the first time he saw it. It seemed so much bigger and impressive back then, after all he was even younger than Sora when he first came here. As soon as they passed the gate, the familiar sight of the town met them. Traverse Town was one of those places that never seemed to change. It still had its familiar welcoming atmosphere, the same one that had met Leon when he was still a boy. For the longest time this place had been his refuge, a place where darkness could not reach him. Amazingly it still felt that way. For that reason, it came as no surprise that everyone that who had lost their home world had ended in Traverse Town. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense that Sora was there.

"Oh Leon, there you are kupo!" Shouted the unmistakable voice of a moogle. It was one of the moogles that worked at the synthesis shop. For that reason both Cid and Leon were familiar with him. "That was fast. Where's Mogster kupo?"

"Tell me about it. Anyways, Mogster is coming on a different ship, it shouldn't take too long for him to arrive." Leon said. Of course they had arrived here fast, after all Cid was driving. He drove so fast that even Mogster´s ship didn't stand a chance. As far as Leon knew a ship as large as the Highwind shouldn't be able to outrun the smaller, more compact ships moogles used. At least the moogle had been smart enough to spare himself of Cid´s driving.

"So where's the kid?" Cid asked. That had actually come out harsher than he intended, but to tell the truth, the wait was killing him.

"I´ll go get him kupo!" Said the moogle. He knew better than to get on Cid´s bad side.

* * *

Sora had just gone back to the Second District after his fight with the heartless. He still felt unsettled over what had happened. Why couldn't he summon the keyblade? As much as he raked his brain for the answer, it was difficult to ponder his thoughts when he was still recovering from his wounds. Being surrounded by people only seemed to make things worse. At the moment he desperately needed to be alone to clear his head, and thankfully he knew just the place.

Without looking back he made his way towards the alleyway behind the hotel, he hoped that the entrance to the waterway was still open. Amazingly, over the year he was absent, nobody had bothered to replace the broken bars that covered the entrance. Even more amazing was the fact that everything inside the waterway was exactly like he remembered. It was still a partially submerged cavern. It wasn't as bad as before though since the cold water barely went above his knees. He slowly walked to a dry piece of land. To his right was a elevator like contraption that led to Merlin's abandoned house in the Third District. At the end of the tunnel to his left was the painting of a crescent moon in a starry sky. That wall used to be where Cid had hidden his Navi-G gummi, the one Sora used to get to Hollow Bastion.

The waterway was also Leon´s favorite training spot; here he could not be bothered by the world around him. But to Sora this place had a greater meaning: this was where he promised Kairi that he would be back. This was where she had given him the thalassa shell charm that he had kept for a year, with the promise that he would return it. That promise had kept him going in the hardest of times. When everything looked bleak and nearly all hope was lost, that promise kept him from giving up. This was also where he first received the keyblade he was using now, its name represented the keeping of that promise: Oathkeeper.

Sora leaned against the rock wall as he proceeded to sit cross-legged on the floor. An overwhelming calm swept over him. There was this comforting silence in the air, the only sound he heard was that of water dripping from the ceiling of the cavern. Closing his eyes to feel the world around him, he finally felt his mind clearing. At the moment he knew he didn´t look very well, he didn´t feel any better either. He not only continued to feel the strange weight on himself, but now he also felt this sick feeling in his stomach. It seemed to spread through his being like a poison. Was it fear?

_'What if next time we're attacked the keyblade won´t respond at all?'_ Sora asked. _'How am I supposed to protect others if I can't even protect myself?'_

_**'Don't worry, maybe you're just tired. Think about it you just survived a near death experience; you were wounded so badly you were unconscious for two whole days.'**_Roxas reasoned_. __**'My guess is that you are overwhelmed. You still have to find help for the wound on your chest. You shouldn't be fighting heartless, you should be in bed, recovering.'**_

_'Yeah but, what if it only gets worse? What if I end up failing everyone?'_ Sora asked, as he cast his glance down at his hands. _'What if someone ends up getting hurt because of me, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to Riku or Kairi.'_

_**'Oh come on that's not the optimistic Sora I know!'**_Roxas said with great determination. The way Sora was acting was starting to anger him; it just seemed so unlike him_. __**'The Sora I know wouldn't say that. He would never let his fears control him. More importantly he could always find the smallest glimmer of hope in the greatest of darkness!'**_

Roxas had a great respect for his original self. Sora was just one of those people that overflowed with kindness. Everything just seemed right about him. He had such an amazing heart. For the longest time Roxas had been curious about his original self. He had always wondered about his existence: Why he was different than the other nobodies? Why could he wield the keyblade? In the end he had left organization XIII with the hopes that he would find his answers, and maybe even meet his original self. Truth was Roxas had even been jealous of Sora at one point, a part of him wanted to hate Sora. But he couldn't bring himself to do it.

_**'Come on Sora, is that really what you want? Do you really want to just give up?'**_ Roxas said. His transparent self appeared in the cavern and sat next to Sora. He reached for Sora's shoulder forcing the brunette to look up. Their intense azure eyes met but Sora quickly looked away trying to avoid Roxas's intense gaze. **"Please Sora, don't do this."**

A long silence followed. Roxas continued to look at Sora as he waited for his answer. Sora still seemed to be deep in thought, there was a pained expression on his face. What seemed like seconds felt more like minutes. Around them the water droplets continued to fall as the silence was just begging to be broken. Finally after what felt like an eternity Sora reached out for the silver charm bracelet that was safely stored in his pocket. He eyed it thoughtfully as it rested on his palm, then he turned towards Roxas and answered.

"You know… you're right."Sora said getting up slowly but with a newfound determination. Roxas's words had really touched him, he never knew that Roxas thought of him that way. "I shouldn't be talking like this, angsting won't solve anything! If I follow my heart everything should turn out alright shouldn't it? Besides I promised that I would come back in time for Kairi's birthday! I WILL keep my promise!"

"**Now that's the Sora I know."** Roxas said happily as he also got up from the cold stone floor. He walked over to Sora, and rejoined him in a flash of blue light. _**'Lets head back, they must be wondering where you are.'**_

_'Yeah, better not worry the others.'_ Sora thought. _'Oh and Roxas?'_

_**'Huh, what is it?' **_Roxas asked, confused.

_'Thanks.' _Sora thought.

_**'Anytime.'**_ Roxas responded with a warm smile.

Sora walked out of the waterway and into the Second District. Thankfully nobody seemed to notice his absence. Nobody seemed to notice his wet clothes either. There were still a couple of people in the area. Many had gone home after the heartless attacked. It was definitely strange since heartless did not usually attack in coordinated groups, unless there was someone controlling them. Sora continued up the stairs to the hotel as he wondered about the organized attack. He was about to open the door when he herd a moogle calling his name. Sora recognized it as one of the moogles from the synthesis shop.

"Hey what's up?" Sora asked.

"Sora, I've been looking all over for you kupo. Cid and Leon are here, they are waiting in the synthesis shop kupo" Said the moogle.

With that said Sora quickly thanked the moogle and made his way towards the synthesis shop in the First District. It seemed like almost an eternity since the last time he saw the two. It was almost unreal how much had happened since he last saw them. To tell the truth he was a bit nervous to see them again. He still had no idea as to how they would react, especially since he had gotten a pretty bad beating. Should he tell them about his wound? What about the problem with the keyblade? Everyone had probably been worried sick about him, he didn't want to cause them any more trouble. All he needed to do was to find some way to heal his chest wound, if he could manage that, then maybe the keyblade problem could be solved too. But first he had to confront Cid and Leon. Taking a deep breath, Sora gathered all his courage and opened the door to the synthesis shop. Without looking back he stepped through, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Cid and Leon had been waiting for fifteen minutes now. They now sat on a couple of chairs in the rather small room. Where could Sora be? They were already thinking about going looking for him themselves. Cid was furiously tapping his foot on the shop's wooden floor. He had just about lost his patience. If Sora didn't show in ten more seconds he was going to go find the keyblade master himself, even if he had to turn the town upside-down. Just before the countdown reached zero, the door opened, letting none other than the keyblade master through.

Leon had to blink a couple of times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. The boy before them was definitely Sora. Despite that Leon had never seen Sora in such a bad condition. Cid was thinking the same thing; he remembered that Sora didn't look too well when he first arrived in Traverse Town, but this was different. He looked like he had gone to hell and back, which in a way, was kind of true. He was pale like a ghost. The visible parts of his body were covered with bruises and faded lines that had once been cuts. Sora also looked tired, and there was worry in his eyes. Still, despite the mental fatigue, he seemed determined. Both men had no idea what Sora had gone through, but whatever it was, it must have affected Sora greatly.

Sora looked very tired, for that reason the reencounter was brief. More than everything Cid and Leon looked relieved that Sora was well. He wasn't in the best conditions but he was alive and that's what really mattered. After hearing a basic story of what happened (of course avoiding the subject of Sora's near death experience, the giant heartless, the strange wound the heartless had inflicted on Sora's chest, and the problem he had when he tried to call the keyblade in battle.), both men began packing for their journey back to Radiant Garden. Truth was, Sora didn't have the heart to tell them about his chest wound, at least not now. Both Cid and Leon looked like they hadn't slept very well lately, both had bags under their eyes, Leon looked like he had been sick. Now that both men seemed like they were finally at peace, Sora couldn't just tell them the bad news.

The trip back was very quiet. Conversations were short since nobody really felt like talking. Although Cid and Leon still wondered about many of the inconsistent parts of Sora's story, they decided against pressing for details. After all there must have been a perfectly good explanation for them. They also didn't want Sora to remember the traumatic experience. While Leon drove, Cid entertained himself looking out the cockpit window. After all, the view was amazing, that much he had to admit. The room remained unusually silent until Leon realized, much to his surprise, that Sora had fallen asleep. Neither Leon nor Cid, decided to wake him up, they both knew that their friend needed the rest. He looked so peaceful and innocent when he slept, almost like an angel. There was still a long way towards Radiant Garden; they would wake him up when they got there.

* * *

**Canis: "Chapter 5 is finally done! Man I hate the grammar check after every chapter."**

**Crystal: "Hey I'm the one who has to check this and then leash you long enough to fix the problem."**

**Canis: "Yeah but you still call me when there are mistakes. Stupid Microsoft and their semi colons."**

**Crystal: "That's my job, besides you can make some pretty weird and funny mistakes."**

**Canis: "Anyways, I want to get some things clear with the way Roxas and Naminé communicate. For starters, having a nobody is like having two personalities in one body. As you've seen in pervious chapters, Roxas and Naminé communicate directly through thoughts which their respective selves can hear (Sora and Kairi). They can also either appear as transparent projections of themselves next to their partner. In that case, anyone can see and hear them unless they talk through the psychic connection as previously mentioned. The only problem is that it greatly strains the person's heart. For that reason, they can't be too far away from each other (its like having a part of yourself torn from you). However, Sora and Kairi do have control over this. They can push their other selves out or even lock them in if they wanted to, but they still don't have much control over it. Not that they would want to anyways. The nobodies can also express themselves directly through their original's self, its kinda like being possessed. In that case, for example, Roxas can say something without Sora's consent. This will make it seem like Sora is the one saying it. The same goes for actions, Roxas could manipulate Sora if he wanted too. Sora can also resist this but this depends on who has the greatest will at the moment. Finally, as to how Sora and Kairi respond, their nobodies can hear them regardless of whether they talk or think. They would usually think though, since saying it out load would make them look crazy, as others would think they're talking to themselves. Sora does sometimes speak out loud, but its usually as an outburst. Most of the time he doesn't realize he is doing it."**

**Crystal: "Well isn't that a mouthful. Anything else you'd like to tell the readers before you leave for awhile with the family."**

**Canis: "Since I'm gonna be gone for 5 days (going to the beach!). I might take long to get back to those who review (I try to personally reply to every review). Also the next Chapter might take a while to come out. Don't worry though since I'll start writing again after I come back. Oh and I got more than 100 hits! (woot!). You guys are awesome, thanks to everyone who's actually reading this."**

**Crystal: "Bring me back a souvenir and a shell!"**

**Canis and Crystal out. (Canis grabs an inner tube and runs off)**


	6. Starting Line

**Hero's Heart Chapter 6: Starting Line**

**Finally back from my vacation! Well that was fun, the only thing that could have made it better was IF PEOPLE DIDN´T THROW GARBAGE INTO THE WATER! Polluters will get a taste of the Buster Sword! I just really needed to get that off my chest. Anyways sorry for not updating in a while, I've been kinda busy. Chapters don't write themselves you know (I wish they would though). I present to you Chapter 6. The good news is, it's longer than the previous chapters, the bad news is, it has a cliffy. (Please don't kill me.)**

**From now on and until further notice:**

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

_**'Nobody Thoughts (Roxas/Naminé)'**_

"**Nobody Speech (Roxas/Naminé)"**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or its characters blah blah blah moving on.**

* * *

Riku sat near the shore, and gazed at the horizon with his aqua colored eyes. The salty ocean breeze caressed his face, and his silver hair whipped around wildly with the wind. He heard the sound of waves crashing down and the cries of seagulls flying in the sunny sky. It seemed like forever since Kairi had told him about her nightmare. In reality that had happened only three days ago. After talking to Kairi they had decided to try and contact their friends. They had no gummi ships with them at the moment, so flying wasn't an option. Neither Naminé nor Riku could use the corridors of darkness anymore, so they couldn't just teleport either. Things weren't looking too bright at the moment.

To make matters worse neither one knew how to contact the HBRC, Riku didn't even know them. Kairi had met them a while back when Sora rescued her. This happened after Hollow Bastion, when Sora sacrificed himself to bring her back. Rather than staying in Hollow Bastion, Kairi was taken to Traverse Town where she became friends with Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Merlin. About a year had passed since then. As a result trying to contact them was becoming less of an option.

After hours of discussing what to do Riku and Kairi had agreed that the only thing they COULD do was to send an emergency message in a bottle, and hope that those in Disney Castle responded. This had worked before, once with Kairi's letter to Sora, then with King Mickey's message to the three. It was beyond Riku as to how throwing bottles into the sea would make them reach other worlds, but all he knew was that it somehow did. Not only did they reach other worlds, but they also managed to reach the person they were addressed to. The only problem was that it took a lot of time, and right now time wasn't something they could afford to waste.

It had been three days since they sent the letter. Riku spent most of those days just sitting near the shore. He knew it wouldn't change a thing but he continued to do it. He felt utterly useless, and he hated it. It was like when Sora spent that year sleeping. Even then Riku tried to stop anyone trying to interfere, and help Sora by bringing back Roxas to DiZ. Right now all he could do was wait. It was awful. Sora could be dying right now and he couldn't do anything for him. Sora always seemed to be risking his life for his friends. On the other hand, here he was feeling utterly useless. His worry was consuming him from the inside.

_'This must be how Kairi felt.'_ Riku thought. He couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for her. Having her two best friends gone for a year on an extremely dangerous quest. To make things worse, everyone had forgotten about Sora's existence. Everyone except Kairi who couldn't even remember Sora's name. _'Kairi is stronger than people give her credit for. It's hard to believe but, she probably felt like this for a whole year, while here I am barely withstanding three days.'_

Riku closed his eyes. He heard the sound of waves crashing down, and felt the cool tropical water touch his feet. He had to be patient and wait. He had to have faith. He had to have faith and believe that the gang at Disney Castle would find the message. Most importantly he had to believe in Sora; believe that despite whatever happened he would be alright.

* * *

Sora could not remember how he ended up in the unfamiliar room he was now in. The last time he'd checked he was in the Highwind with Cid and Leon. Waking up in a foreign place without knowledge of how he got there was NEVER a good thing. He quickly tried to assess the situation. He was currently on a wooden bed with yellow colored sheets. The room he was in was rather small, it had a wooden floor, gray stone walls, a wooden door, and a single window. The place itself was rather empty with the exception of a wooden desk, a nightstand of the same design, and a pendant light hanging down from the ceiling.

Sora got up from the bed and walked towards the window. Outside the familiar view of Radiant Garden met him. He was apparently on the second floor in one of the buildings in the Borough. Sora was relieved to see Merlin's house only a couple of meters away from the house.

_'Must've fallen asleep on the way back.'_ Sora thought as he stretched. He frowned when he realized that his chest still hurt horribly, the feeling of weight hadn't been lifted from his body either.

_**'Yeah, at least we're finally back.'**_ Said Roxas. He paused when he realized the Sora was silent. _**'What's wrong?'**_

_'Nothing, it's just that my chest still hurts.' _Sora replied, as he clutched his chest.

_**'Maybe you should check it out. You know to see if it's healing.'**_ Roxas said slightly concerned.

_'Yeah, you're right.'_ Sora replied.

He began to take his hoodie off, followed by his shirt. Thankfully, because most of his other injuries had healed, it wasn't as painful as last time. The sight that followed wasn't as pleasant. The wound was still there. If anything it looked slightly larger than before. The skin was still black and unfeeling, like that of a heartless. The wound hadn't healed one bit. In fact it only seemed to get worse.

_**'Sora…' **_Roxas said. He didn't really know what to say. Sora simply stood there in a silence that just seemed so unlike the brunette. He could feel Sora's hand trembling as he slowly touched the sinister wound.

"No, I refuse to give up." Sora said snapping from his trance. His voice was strained, probably because of the lump that formed in his throat. His hand was clenched into a fist, and his brow was furrowed. He seemed to be struggling against the negativity that tried to invade his heart. _'Besides, we are already here in Radiant Garden. After everything we've been through, I just can't give up now.'_

Roxas knew that Sora was worried by the seemingly expanding wound. He could also tell that he was trying his best to be his usual optimistic self. He even tried to pull off one of his trademark grins, only to have little success. But Roxas wasn't fooled; Sora did NOT make a convincing liar. He was just one of those easy-to-read people. It was one of the things that made Sora who he was.

Sora got up and put his clothes back on. Silently he left the room, walked through a narrow corridor, and climbed down the wooden stairs. Nobody was downstairs. Rather than wait, Sora decided to walk over to Merlin's. The walk was short since both houses were in close proximity. Despite the short walk something did catch Roxas's attention. Despite the renewed houses, and the fact that it was the busiest time of the day, Radiant Garden looked rather empty.

_**'That's odd.'**_ Roxas thought.

_'Huh, what is?' _Sora asked. Soon enough he noticed it too. He had gotten used to seeing the Borough empty because of the constant heartless threat. But since they had gotten rid of the local heartless, the Borough shouldn't be empty. But it was empty and that worried Sora.

Soon enough he had arrived at Merlin's place. He didn't need to open the door to realize the HBRC was there, after all the walls weren't exactly soundproof. Sora proceeded to open the door. It wasn't even five seconds of being inside the house and Sora had already found himself being glomped into the ground. Yuffie had apparently missed him.

"Yuffie…can't breath…GET OFF!"Sora managed to say.

"OH SORRY!" Yuffie said as she got off of Sora. "We were so worried! Its just that we thought you were gone for good."

"Yeah you didn't answer our messages, then the signal from yer gummi ship just disappeared." Cid said as he got up from his seat in front of the computer.

"You can imagine how surprised we were when we discovered that you were in Traverse Town." Leon said as he helped Sora to his feet.

"We're so happy that you are OK!" Aerith said cheerfully.

"Hmmm, you still look a little pale. Are you sure you are alright?" Tifa said as she closed in and touched Sora's forehead checking for a fever or something. Sora felt himself a bit uncomfortable with all the attention. Tifa's hand felt hot against his skin, or maybe his skin was just cold. "Well you don't have a fever but your temperature seems a bit too low. Maybe you should lie down. We can get a couple of blankets if you want."

"Let him be, he's gone through enough don't you think?" Cloud said. He knew very well how uncomfortable the keyblade master was feeling. After all, he had been in the same situation many times before.

"Well…Ok, I guess it's alright. Just don't go getting into trouble." Tifa said. Sora was actually grateful for Cloud's intervention. He didn't want anyone worrying about him. He ESPECIALLY didn't want to spend more time locked inside, like in Traverse Town.

"Don't worry guys, I'm alright." Sora said in the most convincing tone he could manage. Thankfully that, plus a cheesy grin was enough to win the HBRC over. They were still worried about Sora, but at least they were convinced that he wouldn't drop dead the minute they turned their backs.

"So I assume you enjoyed your nap?" Yuffie said in mischievous way.

"Yeah I did." Sora said as he smiled sheepishly. "What exactly happened?"

"Well, it was still dark outside when we got here. After that we had to drag you all the way to the Borough, mostly cause we had trouble waking you up." Leon said. "You sleep like a log."

Sora rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at the comment. Riku had said the same thing about him several times in the past. The sudden jolt of pain made him jump to reality, and remember why he was so desperate to return. He needed to find a cure, and fast.

"Hey, so where's Merlin?" Sora asked. Now that he thought about it, it was strange that the wizard was absent.

"Huh, I thought we told you before you left." Leon said. "He is in his world right now. It's almost impossible to contact him right now. We tried to when you disappeared, but it was useless. It could be weeks before he returns."

Sora felt himself quickly loose hope at this comment. It felt like his heart had just dropped to the floor. How was he supposed to find a cure with Merlin gone? The wizard specialized in the things that baffled others, and Sora's injury seemed to fit the description perfectly. What was he going to do now?

_**'How about trying Ansems's computer?'**_ Roxas said. _**'I mean, he technically DID create the heartless. There should be some information on what that thing did to you.'**_

_'Yeah, we should try that.'_ Sora responded. He still sounded a little depressed. _'It's not like we have another choice.'_

"Helloo, you there?" Asked Yuffie, as she waved her hand in front of a spaced out Sora. This made Sora snap back to reality. "Anyways, things have been a mess lately. First we lose you, then we can't contact Merlin, and now the heartless are attacking again. Its just one thing after ano-"

"Wait, you mean the heartless are back?" Sora interrupted.

"Yeah they came in small hoards right after Cid and Leon left to get you." Tifa said. "They weren't that many but it's still worrying. I mean no one got hurt but…"

"Just the fact that they were here means something must be up. The way they acted… it was as if someone was in control." Leon said. "We were actually talking about splitting up and checking for any remnants."

"Do you think I can go too? I wanted to go check something out in Ansems's computer, and say hello to Tron." Sora asked. It was more than a statement than a question. After all, Ansems's computer was his only hope.

"Are you sure you are up for this?" Leon asked doubtful. Sora had nearly died only a couple of days ago. It was obvious that the experience had left scars on Sora. Not just physical scars but also emotional ones. Yet Sora seemed determined to fight again, despite his condition. Another thing also bothered Leon. Since when had he taken such an interest in Ansems's computer? After realizing that it had no information on Riku and Kairi's whereabouts, Sora had lost most interest in it. The only thing he seemed to use it for was for trips to Space Paranoids. So why now? Was he hiding something from them?

"Yeah, stop worrying." Sora said. Despite appearing quite confident he was actually pretty nervous. Leon continued to scan him with his icy blue eyes. Did he suspect him?

"You should just let the kid be, it's not like you will be able to stop him from coming anyways." Cloud said. Sora smiled at the comment, he could have sworn he saw Cloud give the slightest of smiles.

Giving a deep sigh, Leon gave in and began to explain the plan. They would split up, and have each member search an area of Radiant Garden for any remaining heartless. Aerith would guard the town. Since it was the area of least concern, she could heal the wounded and move to other areas should there be an emergency. Cid would guard the Borough. Sora was surprised when he saw how skilled the pilot was with spears. Yuffie was assigned to the Bailey. Since she was the fastest, she was also in charge of letting the others know how each member was holding up. Tifa would be in charge of the Ravine Trail, while Cloud was in charge of the area past Crystal Fissure. Leon insisted on going to the Restoration Site, that way he would be close enough to Sora, who was supposed to take care of things in the Castle Postern and Ansems's study. If any of the members ran into more than they could handle, they were told to cast thunder to let the others know.

After the instructions were given, everyone left to their designated areas. Since their areas were close to each other, Leon and Sora left together. Thankfully the heartless infestation wasn't as large as Sora had thought. Except for the occasional Shadow and Neoshadow, the place was empty. His main fear was that the keyblade wouldn't respond to him, but it was a relief that he was able to summon Oathkeeper just fine.

Despite the fighting, the walk was long and awkward. Neither Leon nor Sora spoke. Soon enough they had already passed the various concrete walls, lanterns, mats, and metal pipes that decorated the otherwise blue stone that Radiant Garden was known for. It wasn't long until the Castle came into view. After a quick goodbye Sora continued through a narrow passage that led to the Postern.

The Postern was the same as before. It was a large round area next to the larger castle overlooking a precipice. The orange-brown colored floor was something that heavily contrasted Radiant Garden's unique blue stones. That, plus the many brass pipes that protruded from the castle and walls made the sight exclusive to Radiant Garden. Sora descended a set of stairs, and continued along a concrete path that circled the platform. He passed the door at the end, and crossed the labyrinth that hid the entrance to Ansems's study. The labyrinth was a truly confusing place. Thankfully Sora knew from experience that constant left turns did the trick.

He was just about to reach the corridor to Ansems's study when the familiar feeling of goosebumps overcame him. Sora quickly turned in time to see two Armored knights and two Neoshadows appear. Sora quickly got in a fighting stance and summoned the keyblade. But it didn't come. Instead Sora was met with a sharp jolt of pain to his chest.

_'Not again!' _Sora thought, as he clutched his chest panting.

_**'You mean the keyblade isn't responding again!?' **_Roxas asked worried. Sora didn't have time to respond, the heartless were preparing to attack.

He quickly dodged an incoming attack from one of the heartless. He used magic to take out the Armored Knights, but ran out of energy when trying to hit the Neoshadows. Aiming was hard when the enemy moved so fast, and sunk into the ground. Calling for help wasn't an option either. After all, nobody would be able to see a thunder spell that was cast inside a building. Instead Sora attempted to flee by heading toward the study, but his strategy was quickly discarded when one of the Neoshadows blocked his path. He now found himself unarmed and surrounded. He could only brace himself as the heartless prepared their attacks.

"NAGA SOWA OHANA!" Said a rather unusual voice.

Before Sora could even blink, both heartless had been hit by shots of green plasma. Sora looked around trying to find the origin of the shots, while around him the heartless began to fade into black smoke. He looked upwards to find a blue blur fall down in front of him. It was a rather small blue creature, with large and notched rabbit-like ears at each side of it´s head, large eyes, and a big koala-like creature also had exotic dark blue markings that ran on the back of it's head down to its back. It had rather long claws that scratched the surface of the floor as it walked on all fours. The paws on its hind legs lacked those claws and instead resembled those of an elephant, only much smaller and fluffier. Although it walked on all fours, it showed no problems when it came to standing on two legs as it did to approach Sora. Sora quickly recognized the blur and bent down to greet it.

"Hey Stitch!" Sora said happily.

The fuzzy blue alien was known for mischief, but right now Sora couldn´t be happier to see him. It was originally because of Stitch that Sora, Donald and Goofy were accidentally transported to Space Paranoids and arrested. Despite that, Stitch joined Sora as a summon, and became a valuable ally. Stitch was surprisingly smart, even if he had trouble when it came to speaking english. Because he had trouble pronouncing words, Stitch usually pronounced his name as "Sowa" rather than "Sora".

"Sowa okay?" Stitch asked, his voice sounded worried. It seemed odd to Stitch that his friend had not called his weapon to defend himself. Stitch could smell that something was wrong. After carefully sniffing his surroundings, Stitch came to the conclusion that the strange scent came from Sora.

"Yeah, thanks for your help buddy. You really saved me back there." Sora said as he ruffled Stitch´s fur. To his surprise. Stitch continued to sniff him, and look at him with a rather suspicious look. "Don´t worry, I´m fine now."

Sora wasn´t fine however, he was actually really worried. The same thing that happened in Traverse Town happened again. Only this time it was more painful. Had it not been for Stitch, Sora would have lost his heart by now. Ever since his failed mission nothing seemed to be going right. Why did this have to happen to him?

Sora decided that sulking wouldn't help, instead he continued down the passage with Stitch towards Ansem´s Study. The study had changed a lot since his last visit. For starters it was clean. Somebody had finally cleaned up the mess left from Tifa´s frantic search for Cloud. There were no longer any books, papers, shards of glass, or pieces of broken furniture on the floor. Xenahort´s portrait, and the drawing of the DTD on the wall were also than that, everything looked the same.

Sora continued through the passage to where Ansem´s computer was. He quickly crossed the path with the transparent floor. He looked towards the side and gazed at the many miles of machinery that filled the place. It wasn´t until after that Sora discovered that they were for making heartless. A couple of more steps and Sora was finally in Ansem´s computer room. To his right was the strange red device that allowed him to be turned into data and enter Space Paranoids. To his left was the computer, as well as several monitors.

"Hey Tron, are you there?" Sora asked.

"Sora? I am overjoyed that you are unharmed! For a moment I feared that you had been de-rezzed!" Tron said in an excited manner.

"Yeah I missed you too." Sora said wasn't common to see such an emotional outburst from a computer program.

"So what brings you here? You could have contacted me through Cid´s computer." Tron asked.

"Well theres something I needed to check out about the heartless." Sora said. "Do you mind if I take a look at the DTD?"

"No not at all, it's the least I can do after everything you´ve done." Tron said. "If you want to, I can assist you in your query. Just give me a keyword or phrase."

"Great! Does it say anything about special strains of heartless." Sora asked.

"Well Ansem attempted to classify the heartless, and created a database. I could check there. All I would need is a description of said heartless." Tron said. "Is it a Pureblood or an Emblem heartless?"

"It was a Pureblood, but it was much larger than any other Pureblood I´ve seen. It was MUCH bigger than Darkside." Sora said. "If it helps it moved on all fours, had a fiery black mane, horns, huge claws, and these wispy things on its back."

"I´m afraid there is no match. It must have been a rather new strain." Tron said. "Is there anything else you would like to search?"

Sora was disapointed. If the heartless that attacked him was not in the database, then chances were that nobody knew about it either. He could still search for something else to help him, but what good would that do if he didn´t know _what_ to search. It wasn´t like he could go over each topic individualy until something came up. Judging by the ammount of data, it could take months just to get a lead.

_**'Hold on, maybe there is something we can search.'**_ Roxas said thoughfully. _**'Think about it. Heartless are creatures created from darkness right? I don't know if you have noticed but ever since you got attacked, your body has gone into chaos. It like its has gone out of balance. Now I was thinking what if some of the heartless´s darkness got inside you through the wound. That would be enough to upset the balance inside you. It makes sense.**__** '**_

Sora was amazed at Roxas' theory. He couldn't have come up with something like that himself. As scary as the idea was, it made a lot of sense. But why hadn´t it happened before? He had gotten injured by heartless several times. And why was his skin turning like that of a heartless? Most importantly, what would happen to him now? The answer suddenly came to Sora. He knew from the Ansem Reports that the man and his apprentices had done several experiments on the darkness. If he could figure out exactly what they were doing and their results maybe he stood a chance.

"Tron!" Sora called. Both Tron and Stitch almost jumped up in surprise to Sora´s outburst. He had stood in silence for a while now, they thought he had fallen asleep. "Do you have the reports for the experiments that Ansem conducted with the darkness?"

"They should be stored somewhere in the dataspace, let me check." Tron said still surprised. "Well we have good news and bad news. The good news is there are here, but the bad news is they are are under lock. Apparently Ansem was very keen on keeping the results from people. Hacking in won´t be possible either."

"Wait, if the reports are under lock does that mean that they need some sort of key?" Sora asked.

"Yes, that under basic terms is what we need." Tron said.

"Then meet me in the I/O Tower´s Communication Room, I have exactly what we need." Sora said grinning. He began to type on keyboard, and then turned to face Stitch. "Listen I´m going to go meet Tron. While I´m there I need you to guard this room. Can you do that for me?"

"EEGH" Stitch said as he nodded.

Happy with the reply Sora turned around and faced the red device on the wall. Soon a bright ray of light shot out of the device. Sora stood frozen in place as his body became small digitalized bits and pieces. Soon enough there was a blinding light and he was sucked into the device.

* * *

Sora awoke and was rather dazed. The first thing that he noticed was that instead of being in the Communication Room like he had set up, he found himself lying on the floor of the Pit Cell. Sora was thankful that atleast it wasn´t the Game Grid. Sora got up to find he was in his world form. This form in particular always bothered Sora. It wasn't a bad feeling, but it just felt weird being made of data. In this form Sora was in a robot-like gray and blue armor with glowing cyan circuit lines along his body. It was rather odd since he no longer had skin. His sense of smell and taste didn´t work either. Despite that, something seemed off. After feeling the pain in his chest worsen, Sora looked down to find that his chest had taken a rather odd appearance. Not only did his injury surface the armor, but it was black and was covered with rows of 1s and 0s.

_'Ahh man.'_ Sora said as he touched the wound. _'Well that's gonna be hard to hide.'_

_**'Guess you´re just gonna have to tell Tron then.'**_ Roxas said.

Sora left the Pit Cell, by unlocking the door with the keyblade, and headed towards the I/O Tower. From all the worlds he visited, Space Paranoids was probably the easiest to get around in. Why he had ended up in the Pit Cell was still a mystery to Sora. That had never happened to him before. Was it because of his injury? Sora continued to ponder this as he took the transporter that left towards the I/O Tower.

"SORA, OVER HERE!" Shouted a voice that he recognized as Tron. Sora got off the transporter and went to meet his friend. "I was afraid that I might have lost you. What happened to your chest?"

Sora sighed. He knew that he would have to tell eventually, but it was easier said than done. Sora began to tell Tron everything that had happened to him, up to the point when he arrived to Space Paranoids. Tron was shocked to say the least. His jaw would have fallen to the ground had it not been attached to his head. Sora on the other hand, never thought he could get such a reaction from the usually serious computer program.

"Well that was quite the story." Tron said as he still tried to compose himself. "It would explain a lot. I thought it was strange. The data from your user profile seemed different from last time, a section of it ressembled that of a heartless. That was the reason you ended up in the Pit Cell. It serves as a quarantine for the data that the computer finds harmful."

"Oh." Said Sora in a rather depressed manner. If Tron was right then the computer had confused him for a heartless.

_**'Come on**__**, cheer up.'**_ Roxas said. _**'Besides, we still need to get the reports.'**_

_'Yeah__, you´re right.'_ Sora thought. "So where is this ´lock´ Tron?"

"Follow me." Tron said as he headed towards the Simulation Hanger.

Together, Sora and Tron boarded the Solar Sailor. The trip was thankfully heartless-free. Sora entertained himself by looking over the sides, and beholding the large space that was Ansem´s computer. Once they had reached their destination, Sora realized that it was a section of Space Paranoids that he had never seen before. It very much resembled the Dataspace, though it was more dimly lit, and a huge keyhole adorned one of the three screens. Sora quickly ran forward and extended his hand. Thankfully the keyblade responded his call. Pointing it towards the central screen, the keyblade let out a bright shot of light that hit the keyhole. Soon the keyhole disappeared, and the screen lit up with life.

"There, that should give us access to the data." Tron said.

Just as soon as he said that, the whole area began to tremble. Before them, the screen began to flash red, as a huge warning sign appeared. On the adjacent screens the heartless emblem appeared. The floor beneath them began to emit darkness, as the tremble only got stronger. Soon a shape began to take form from the darkness, afterwards the trembling stopped.

Althought it wasn´t as large as other foes, it certainly was intimidating. It looked more like a mechanical monster than a heartless, but its heartless emblem between its eyes said otherwise. It was a large insect-like heartless that stood on its four giant legs like a golem. Each massive appendage served like both a shield and a weapon, while it´s central body seemed capable of rotating on a 360 degree angle. Most of its body seemed to be of a bluish-black color, with exception to a few silver parts, the red tips of each arm, and the red circuit lines that adorned the heartless.

The heartless proceeded to use its legs to stomp the floor, creating a quake-like shockwave. The heartless stopped as it eyed its opponents with erie yellow orbs. After seeing the keyblade, the heartless stomped again letting out a loud metallic roar. Sora and Tron prepared their battle stances. This wasn´t going to be an easy battle.

To be continued…

* * *

**Canis: ****"There you have it folks, Chapter 6."**

**Crystal: "…You're not getting any cookies till the next chapter."**

**Canis: "Dammit!"**

**Crystal "Where'd you get the idea on how the Heartless looked like anyways. It sounds mechanically cool."**

**Canis: "I actually based it on the design for the classic Omega Weapon from the Final Fantasy series."**

**Crystal: "Cool."**

**Canis: "Oh and thanks to ****ninjawitch93 for congratulating Crystal on her work as a Beta Reader.****"**

**Crystal: "Aww, thank you so much, that was swe-"**

**Canis: *YOINK!* "I have your cookies!" (Sticks tongue out and runs off).**

**Crystal: (Whispers) "Good thing the cookies I brought today were sugar free. I just won't tell her that… still" (OUTLOUD) "I WANT THOSE COOKIES! GET BACK HERE!"**

**Canis: (Still running) "Anyways Chapter 7 will be out soon! Remember, hug a beta reader today! Canis and Crystal out!" **

**(Canis and Crystal run off into the horizon.)**


	7. Bad News

**Chapter 7: Bad News**

**I apologize for last chapter's cliffy; it was an irresistible urge. Also, I think I will take it easy on my writing. That, plus a course I will be taking soon, will probably mean slower updates. That does not mean I will stop this fic. That also won't mean I will update only once every month. In fact many of you probably won't be able to tell the difference. As always reviews are greatly appreciated, seriously I want to know what you guys think about the story so far. What do you like? What do you hate?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sora or any of the other Kingdom Hearts characters!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The stairway seemed to go on forever. Not only did it twist and turn, but at some points it seemed to distort the very space around them. Where the path seemed to end at one point, a portal proved it to continue at another point of the huge tower. That was one of the things that King Mickey both hated, and admired about his master's tower. The other thing he disliked was its isolated location, as it was only accessible to those in need of it. Even after all the years he had trained under Yen Sid, Mickey could not get used to it.

It was a bizarre and magnificent tower. Glowing stars and moons decorated the place. It was after all, magical. The brown tower consisted mainly of: staircases floating randomly over a golden ether, round rooms, glistening portals that connected each, and of course Yen Sid's study. It was also nearly impossible to tell how tall the tower was. Overall it seemed to defy every physical law known to man. But then again, magic, much like the heart, was a whole other story.

Mickey had finally reached the top of the large staircase that led to his master's study. Opening the door, he stepped forth. It was a round room that had shelves full of books, a large desk and other curiosities. In front of him was his old master, Yen Sid staring intently outside the window.

"Master Yen Sid." Said Mickey as he bowed before his master in respect.

"Something troubling is taking place somewhere along the many worlds." Yen Sid said as he turned towards Mickey, and beckoned him to stand up. "I sense conflict within the hearts of the many worlds, their inhabitants, and even you your majesty."

"It's true. My heart is telling me that something is wrong. It's not just me though; everyone back at the castle feels the same way. When I came here the gummi routes were flooded with heartless." Mickey said. "Master, is there anything you know about this?"

"The worlds are connected by invisible ties. The heart is no different." Said Yen Sid. "Head to the gummi ship, and hurry back to Disney Castle. There awaits for you the first clue to this mystery. If I'm correct, which I hope I am not, then we have no time to lose."

* * *

Ten minutes of fighting had past. Unfortunately neither Sora nor Tron were able to even scratch the heartless. The creature's dark blue and silver "legs" were like an impenetrable barrier. Not even the strongest of attacks seemed to damage them. Even magic didn't work. Sora had already tried his whole arsenal of spells with no success. Every time an attack was launched the heartless would either huddle closer to shield itself, or create a reflect-like shield around its body.

"It's no use, we are only wearing ourselves down like this!" Sora said as he blocked one of the projectiles that the heartless launched at him. He doubted that he could continue doing this for much longer. His usual stamina seemed to have left him.

"We have to find some kind of weak spot. If we could find an entry point afterwards then this battle could turn in our favor." Tron said as he threw his identity disk like a boomerang.

_**'This is one tough nut to crack.'**_ Roxas said as Sora barely managed to dodge roll out of the creature's path. He definitely didn't want to be crushed under the heavy red-clawed legs.

_'Wait, that's it!'_ Sora almost shouted in realization. The creature´s weak point had to be what it was so stubbornly defending! "I have an idea!"

With that said, Sora took a deep breath and started running towards the heartless. Tron looked shocked at his friend's rather unexpected and rash action. On the other hand, Sora was dodging the creature's ranged attacks, and began to run in circles looking for an opening. The heartless´s yellow eyes seemed to follow Sora intently. Finally after figuring out what Sora was planning, Tron threw his disk to try and distract the monster. The monster rotated its eyes to face the disk, giving Sora the perfect opportunity to slide past the legs and attack the inner body. What Sora didn't expect however, was that the heartless quickly turned back to face him. Having realized that Sora was mere inches away, the heartless spun around, and hit Sora square in the chest. Sora was flown across the small arena, and landed close to where Tron stood.

"Ok, bad idea." Sora said as he clutched his chest in agony. He could barely move from the pain. From all the places the heartless could hit him, it just had to hit him THERE.

"SORA! Are you Ok? Quickly drink this!" Tron said as he helped Sora to his feet, and handed him a Hi-potion.

_**'Man, are you alright?'**_ Roxas asked concerned. Sora gave a weak nod, as he gulped down the green liquid.

"Charging recklessly at it won't work. I believe we will have to stun it somehow." Tron said.

It was easier said than done. The only way to stun it was to hit the body. Hitting the body was only possible if they somehow got past the creature's defenses. The only time the heartless left its defensive stance was to either launch a ranged attack, or to begin trampling around the place. Either way, getting near it while it attacked was suicidal. They would need some kind of attack capable of penetrating its defenses. At the same time it had to be strong enough to stun it. That way Sora could safely move in, and finish it off with melee attacks. Realization suddenly came to Sora. He knew exactly what to do.

"Tron do you have any ethers?" Sora asked. If his plan worked then maybe they could defeat the heartless. It was going to be risky, but it was better than nothing.

"Yes, I have one." Tron said as he gave it to Sora. Sora opened it and began to gulp it down. "Sora what are you planning? I thought magic didn't work."

"It doesn't. But then again, I'm not planning to use magic." Sora said as he finished the ether. The effects were almost immediate. He felt a rush of magic flow through his veins, and soon enough his magical energy was recharged. "Once I'm close enough I´ll give you a signal."

Tron soon realized what the Keyblade Master meant and nodded in understanding. Sucking up the pain from his wounds, Sora quickly charged towards the heartless. Sora quickly ran while dodging the incoming attacks. Thankfully the heartless was slow when it came to attacking. Once he was close enough, Sora pulled Oathkeeper out and pointed it at the heartless.

"NOW!" Sora yelled.

"SETUP!" Tron shouted.

Soon enough, Tron called forth several streams of data. Sora pointed his keyblade upwards as the heartless flinched from the attack. The attack wasn't over though. Tron and Sora quickly summoned up small spinning shapes, that surrounded, and attacked the heartless. To finalize the limit, Tron called forth a circle of data in front of Sora, and Sora slamed his hand into it. The space was filled with even more clusters of geometric shapes that quickly attacked the monster, successfully stunning it. Taking the full advantage of the moment, Sora leaped into the air, and plunged his keyblade dead center into the heartless emblem on the creature's forehead. As on cue, the heartless vanished into black mist leaving a giant heart that floated into the air, and disappeared.

"We…did it." Sora said happily, as he laid down on the floor panting.

_**'Yeah you did great. I hadn't thought of using limits myself.'**_ Roxas said.

"So what do you suppose that thing was?" Sora asked Tron.

"I can´t tell for certain. My guess is that it had been locked away in the report database, and was released when you unlocked it. It could have been placed there to attack anyone that tried to get to the reports." Tron said. "Anyways, we should now have full access to the reports. Why don't you head back to the user world. I'll have the data ready by then."

Nodding, Sora left the area and made his way back to the I/O Tower. Once he was safely back in the Communication Room, Sora used the terminal there to head back to Ansems's computer room. The room was pretty much in the same condition that he left it in. Stitch was lying on the floor napping. Apparently no heartless had attempted to attack while he was away. Leon didn't seem to have come to the study either. Which was good considering the condition he was in at the moment. He was tired from the battle, and now that he was made of flesh again he could see a couple of new bruises.

"Sora, I have finished going over the files. I'm afraid I have bad news." Tron said through the computer.

"What is it?" Sora asked, as he approached the computer.

"Now I know why Ansem the Wise wanted to hide the files." Tron said in a serious tone. "They are detailed reports on the horrible experiments that his apprentices conducted on the heart. In an attempt to figure out what exactly darkness was. They injected live test subjects with darkness. Because of the darkness the person would either die from pain or exposure. Otherwise they would turn into a heartless. When Ansem the Wise discovered what his apprentices were doing behind his back, he stopped all the experiments and locked away the reports in his computer. That way no one could ever find out about the horrible things that happened in his lab."

"But then, what happened to the test subjects that did survive?" Sora asked concerned.

"You see I'm afraid that none of the subjects were able to survive the experiments." Tron said grimly. "I'm… very sorry Sora."

Sora's entire world seemed to sink when he heard that. Even when he had won the battle with the heartless, he had still lost the war. How was he supposed to go back home knowing that the darkness would eventually kill him? Would he turn into a heartless again? Would the pain become so strong, that it would eventually drive him mad? Most importantly, what would Riku and Kairi think? He knew that they would welcome him. At the same time, he couldn't bear to do that to his friends. How was he supposed to face Kairi, on her birthday nonetheless, and tell her that he was dying? How was he supposed to look at Riku in the eyes and tell him that he had given up?

_**'Come on Sora! I thought you said you were going to stop sulking!'**_ Roxas said. _**'Even if those people died because of the **__**experiments, that does NOT mean that you will die too. You are a keyblade master, you have also been exposed to more darkness than normal people, and you have even been a heartless before. If anyone has a chance to survive this, it's probably you!'**_

_'But where are we supposed to find a cure?' _Sora asked.

_**'Well, we know that Ansems's apprentices betrayed him, right?'**_ Roxas thought as Sora nodded. _**'What if they continued their experiments after that? Only they lost their hearts to become heartless, while their nobodies founded Organization XIII. Then maybe Xemnas did keep the reports to the latter experiments.'**_

_'Is the castle even there anymore? I thought Xemnas took it down with the giant dragon nobody.' _Sora asked.

_**'Well I guess there is only one way to find out.'**_ Roxas said. _**'Or would you rather just give up?'**_

_'No you're right. I´m not going to give up!'_ Sora said. "Tron I think I will be heading back now. Thanks for your help."

"I understand, and sorry for what happened." Tron said.

"It's Ok. Could you do me a small favor though?" Sora asked.

"Huh, what is it?" Tron asked.

"Please don't tell the others about what happened." Sora said as he patted Stitch´s head, and left the room.

The way back was long and somewhat lonely. More than anything Sora was worried that the others would notice his new injuries. For that reason he would stop every once in a while, and cast Curaga on himself. Once he was at the castle postern, he found Leon leaning on one of the walls, apparently waiting for him. He looked somewhat relieved when he saw Sora coming out of the Castle in one piece. Together they went back to Merlin's house. Once they opened the door and went inside, they realized that everyone was there. Apparently they had all finished, and were waiting for the keyblade master.

"What took you so long!" Yuffie said as she pouted.

"You get lost in the maze or something?" Cid asked.

Sora began to apologize for leaving everyone waiting. He used as an excuse that there were several heartless within the maze. For that reason he had to check every corner of it, and ended up getting lost. Apparently the operation was a success. Together the HBRC had gotten rid of all the stray heartless. Radiant Garden was once again safe from any threat.

"Guess all's well that ends well." Aerith said. Sora flinched. If he was going to make a run for it, he would have to act quickly.

"Well then. Guess I should be going now." Sora said as he tried to put on the best smile he could manage. If they suspected something was wrong, they would never let him go.

"Hold on. Where do you think you are going?" Leon said as he examined Sora carefully with his icy blue eyes.

"Well the mission is over and the heartless have been vanquished. I thought maybe it was time to leave Radiant Garden." Sora said nervously.

"Are you sure? You still don't look so well, maybe you should just stay." Tifa said.

"NO! I mean, thanks for the offer but I really need to go back." Sora said.

"Come on Tifa. We don't have the right to keep him here. If he wants to leave I think we should respect his wishes." Cloud said. Once again Sora had been saved by Cloud. Sora still couldn't understand. Did he know? Sora looked at Cloud to get some kind of hint. Instead Cloud made no eye contact.

_**'He must know what it's like.'**_ Roxas said. _**'Cloud has left the others before to solve his inner conflict. He probably relates to you the most.'**_

_'Wow. I never really thought I had much in common with him.'_ Sora thought _'Aside from fighting the heartless, and searching for our light. I never thought he could understand me the best right now.'_

"Guess you're right." Cid said. "Well at least take a decent ship."

"Sora." Leon said. "Just be careful alright?"

Sora nodded and said goodbye to his friends. He went to the gummi hangar, and there he chose the Invincible as his ride of choice. Mostly to appease the HBRC. It had a tough exterior, and flew at a slower speed than the Highwind or the Falcon. That way it was less likely that Sora would crash it. The HBRC also provided Sora with food and other supplies like ethers and hi-potions.

After everything was checked, and everything was counted for, the ship was ready to take off. Sora walked into the cockpit, and sat in the captains seat. Sitting in a captain's seat was something that Sora always wanted to do when he was small. When they were kids, it was always Riku that got to be captain because he was the oldest. Now that he actually got to do it, it wasn't as magical as he always believed it to be. It was cool, but having to constantly worry about the fuel or the incoming ships took the fun out of it.

The ship had finally taken off. The thrust from the propellers caused Sora to be slammed to the back of his seat. Not that Sora didn't enjoy it, he actually loved the feeling. Soon the blue sky turned into a black mass filled with many colorful stars. Behind him the town became smaller and smaller, until it was barely distinguishable from the rest of the world. Soon Radiant Garden became just another shining star in a cosmic sea.

* * *

It was a beautiful day in Disney Castle. The sun was out, the birds were singing, and the garden was just the perfect place to sit down and enjoy a nap. Or at least that's what Goofy wanted. In reality it was cloudy outside, with a small downpour. The weather had been awfully strange lately.

Goofy could not remember the last time the weather had been so gloomy. There was also this unusual bad feeling that everyone was having. For that reason the king had left again. Both Donald and Goofy had offered to accompany him in his journey, but instead they were told to guard the castle due to the heartless threat. For now the situation was under control. Goofy was in the same attire from his last journey, which consisted of yellow pants, green sweater, black vest, large brown shoes, and his trade mark yellow hat. He was currently trying to take a nap on the large leather sofa in front of the warm fire place. Right when he was about to fall asleep, the loud sound of running and squawking came to his attention.

"Goofy get up now! It's an emergency!" Squawked the voice that he recognized as Donald. Although it probably sounded more like gibberish to others, Goofy had no trouble understanding him.

"Gawrsh, what is it?" Goofy said as he yawned, and closed his eyes. This only made Donald loose his temper and cast a thunder spell on Goofy. Goofy yelped, and was literally shocked awake.

"I found this letter. Darn thing fell out of the sky and hit me in the head. It's from Riku and Kairi!" Donald squawked as he rubbed his head. He looked very grouchy but it was probably because of his injury, and the fact that his blue mage clothes were soaking wet. This confused Goofy as he always thought that ducks liked water. "They say they want us to come, and that it's an emergency! Come on, we have to contact the king!"

"Gawrsh Donald, do you think it has something to do with Sora?" Goofy asked as he got up, and followed Donald to the gummi hangar. "Ahyuk, maybe it has something to do with all the stuff that has been happening lately."

Goofy followed Donald outside into the Courtyard and through the secret entrance to the gummi hangar. The hangar was located directly beneath the castle. Once inside they were greeted by chip and Dale. After explaining what happened, the chipmunks ran up to a large monitor, and began typing keys.

"Disney Castle to Kingdom ship, do you copy?" Chip said as he talked into a microphone-like object.

"Chip is that you?" The king's voice could be made out from the static. "What's wrong?"

"There is trouble in Destiny Islands. They sent a distress message telling us to get there ASAP." Donald squawked into said microphone.

"Yen Sid was right…" Mickey said thoughtfully. "I'm on my way to the castle right now. Donald, Goofy, you guys get some supplies for the trip. We are going to help our friends!"

* * *

**Canis: "Well, this is it for chapter 7."**

**Crystal: "Wow no cliffy, you're done being sadistic for the day?"**

**Canis: "Actually, since people hate cliffies, I have decided to add a preview for the next chapter… that ends in a cliffy. That way you guys get the choice whether to read it or not. Everybody wins."**

**Crystal: "…Brat… Just try to not make the next chapter a cliffy."**

**Canis: (grins) "We'll see. In the mean time, why don't you look at the pretty blue jay that just perched in that tree over there."**

**Crystal: "… You're trying to take my cookies again aren't you. Anyways, please review (whisper) so she won´t see me switch the cookies to sugarless again."**

**Canis: "Well, here goes."**

* * *

**Special Secret:**

The trip had proven to be long, slow and irritating. Although more resistant, the ship had proven to be much slower than Sora had expected. There were also more heartless ships in the gummi route. As a result, and despite how tired he was, Sora wasn't getting any sleep soon. He couldn't put the autopilot on if he was being constantly shot at by enemy ships. They weren't just going to fall out of the sky if he asked nicely either.

Sora was tired, his chest still hurt horribly, his body ached from the battle, and his vision was starting to blur. He had definitely woken up from the wrong side of bed this week. This was probably one of the worst weeks of his life, if not the worst. He grabbed the familiar silver charm bracelet from within his pocket, and held onto it as a source of comfort. After what seemed like hours to Sora, the waves of heartless had finally stopped.

_**'Hey look, we're close.'**_ Roxas said.

Sure enough the world came into full view. Sora was about to get out of his seat when a painful jolt of pain struck his chest. The keyblade master let out a cry of pain, and fell into ground. He frantically grabbed his chest, and rolled to his side as if he was being stabbed. The pain was so intense that he could barely move. It was stronger than anything he had ever felt before.

_**'SORA! What´s wrong!'**_ Roxas asked worried. Sora continued to clutch his chest, and let out another cry of pain. _**'Sora?! **__**SORA ANSWER ME!'**_

In a desperate attempt to help his somebody, Roxas appeared next to him in transparent form. He quickly knelt next to Sora and tried to shake him from his fetal position. Instead Sora continued to cry out in pain, and began to thrash around as if he were having a nightmare. Roxas attempted to hold him down. Instead he jumped back when he touched him. Sora was burning up. With a final cry of pain Sora stop thrashing, and finally passed out. Roxas stood shocked, as he noticed a black liquid begin to pool beneath Sora. He quickly realized that it wasn't blood, and that it was of a much thicker consistency. Roxas was quickly distracted when the gummi ship's alarm came to life, and the entire room flashed with red lights. He quickly stood up, alerted by the cacophony of sounds, and looked outside to see what was the problem. The former nobody stood in shock after realizing what was happening. They were falling at full speed towards The World That Never Was.

To be continued…

* * *

**Crystal: "That was SO Geostigma!"**

**Canis: "Actually it's not Geostigma. I just thought it would fitting."**

**Crystal: "I can just see Cloud rolling his eyes right about now, cuz I so am."**

**Canis: "Hmmm, the plot thickens... MUAHAHAHA. Anyways, till next time."**

**Canis and Crystal out!**


	8. Unleashed

**Chapter 8: Unleashed**

**Hey everyone! Canis here, happy to report that Chapter 8 has finally arrived! I honestly apologize to all of those who have been waiting for this. I planned to update for more than a week ago, but I had a series of problems that made it impossible (I would rather not go into details). Instead (and to make it up to you guys), I decided to make this chapter twice as long! I'm also very happy with the positive reaction that the last chapter got. I would also like to thank everyone that has added me to their lists. I'm honestly flattered (you guys are awesome T^T) . To tell the truth, I have actually been waiting for a looong time to write this chapter. **

**Oh and here is a funny fact: last chapter's bonus (also part of this chapter's beginning) was made so that it would resemble the beginning of a usual episode of House MD, one of my favorite shows. Don´t worry, Sora doesn´t have Lupus.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or House MD. **

**So on with the story!**

* * *

The trip had proven to be long, slow and irritating. Although more resistant, the ship had proven to be much slower than Sora had expected. There were also more heartless ships in the gummi route. As a result, and despite how tired he was, Sora wasn't getting any sleep soon. He couldn't put the autopilot on if he was being constantly shot at by enemy ships. They weren't just going to fall out of the sky if he asked nicely either.

Sora was tired, his chest still hurt horribly, his body ached from the battle, and his vision was starting to blur. He had definitely woken up from the wrong side of bed this week. This was probably one of the worst weeks of his life, if not the worst. He grabbed the familiar silver charm bracelet from within his pocket, and held onto it as a source of comfort. After what seemed like hours to Sora, the waves of heartless had finally stopped.

_**'Hey look, we're close.'**_ Roxas said.

Sure enough the world came into full view. Sora was about to get out of his seat when a painful jolt of pain struck his chest. The keyblade master let out a cry of pain, and fell into ground. He frantically grabbed his chest, and rolled to his side as if he was being stabbed. The pain was so intense that he could barely move. It was stronger than anything he had ever felt before.

_**'SORA! What's wrong!'**_ Roxas asked worried. Sora continued to clutch his chest, and let out another cry of pain. _**'Sora?! SORA ANSWER ME!'**_

In a desperate attempt to help his somebody, Roxas appeared next to him in transparent form. He quickly knelt next to Sora and tried to shake him from his fetal position. Instead Sora continued to cry out in pain, and began to thrash around as if he were having a nightmare. Roxas attempted to hold him down. Instead he jumped back when he touched him. Sora was burning up. With a final cry of pain Sora stop thrashing, and finally passed out. Roxas stood shocked, as he noticed a black liquid begin to pool beneath Sora. He quickly realized that it wasn't blood, and that it was of a much thicker consistency. Roxas was quickly distracted when the gummi ship's alarm came to life, and the entire room flashed with red lights. He quickly stood up, alerted by the cacophony of sounds, and looked outside to see what was the problem. The former nobody stood in shock after realizing what was happening. They were falling at full speed towards The World That Never Was.

Around him things were already starting to heat up. Because of the friction with the world's atmosphere, the whole ship was starting to overheat. Soon, smoke was coming off the engines, and the ship's right wing had caught fire. Roxas ran towards the control panels, and grabbed the steering wheel. He activated the emergency parachutes, but soon realized it was useless since they were torn right off the ship. He could already see the city's gloomy buildings, and neon signs get closer and closer at an alarming speed. It was too late to stop the ship.

Roxas stood wide-eyed while the ship's alarm continued to ring in his ears, the room flashed red, and the ship trembled as it approached the ground at a breakneck speed. In an adrenaline fueled moment, Roxas did the only thing he could do. He quickly ran towards Sora who was unconscious on the floor, and closed his eyes, concentrating. In the blink of an eye, the flaming mass of metal that used to be the Invincible crashed into the world, creating a large explosion of fire and metal.

* * *

"NOOOOO!" Screamed Kairi as tears began streaming down from her face.

_**'Kairi are you Ok?'**_ Naminé asked worried. Kairi looked around frantically only to realize that she was in her room.

_'Was it just a dream?'_ Kairi asked herself, still shaken. It was way too real to be a dream.

_**'Do you want to talk about it? It will make you feel better if you get it off your chest.'**_ Naminé said. She was right. But as soon as Kairi attempted to recall the events in the dream she realized that she couldn't.

_'I can't remember what happened in it.'_ Kairi said at last. _'All I remember is that it was dark, Sora was in trouble, and there was fire and metal everywhere.'_

Kari looked at her alarm clock on her bed stand to realize that it was past 10 in the morning, and that she had overslept. As if on cue, a sudden sound came to Kairi's attention. She looked towards her window where the sound came from, to see that it was still gloomy outside. It hadn't stopped raining for almost a week! It was strange to say the least. Ever since Sora left five days ago, it was like the happiness had been drained from the islands, and its inhabitants. She was brought back from her thoughts by another sound. She quickly realized that someone was throwing pebbles at her window. She opened the window, and looked down to see the figure of Riku, looking back at her.

"Well it was about time." Riku said with a rare smile on his face. He looked unusually happy and excited. Though to others he would have looked calm and stoic, Riku's eyes told a different story; one that only those close to him could tell.

"Riku what's up? Wait, you're soaking wet! Let me open the door downstairs." Kairi said.

"No time, just get dressed, and pack whatever it is you need." Riku said. "It's gonna be a long trip!"

"Wait, you mean…?" Kairi asked hopeful. Riku nodded in response.

Kairi quickly got dressed, and washed the dry tears off her face. She went downstairs, and opened the door for Riku, handing him some towels to dry off. Kari went back upstairs and started packing. She packed some of her personal things in a backpack, including her good luck charm, as well as potions in case of emergency, and snacks for the trip. Once she was ready, she headed downstairs to meet Riku who was done drying off. Kairi left a note for her parents, grabbed two umbrellas, and before she knew it, she was out the door. Together both teens ran through the rain, towards the familiar island where they had spent so much time playing as children.

* * *

It was already morning in the familiar world of Radiant Garden. Two figures stood in the library of Radiant Garden's castle, away from the eyes of the HBRC. One of them was a woman holding a staff with a crow perched on it. Anyone could recognize her as Maleficent. It became rather obvious that other rather large figure was Pete.

"You have failed me again Pete." Said Maleficent´s dark voice as she looked outside the window.

"I thought you said that he was wounded and defenseless." Pete said pointing at Maleficent. "That brat still beat the heartless I sent after him!"

"It matters not. Go now and find that wretched keyblade master. Make sure that he doesn't survive the next encounter." Maleficent said as she signaled Pete to leave. "Once the keyblade is out of my way, nothing will stop me! The realm of light shall be mine!"

* * *

He didn't know where he was, all he knew was that he was surrounded by darkness. Was he falling again? Did he die? Sora couldn't tell. All he knew was that in this place nothing seemed to matter. There was no sound whatsoever in this infinite darkness. Even time didn't seem to exist. It was so bizarre. Soon, Sora began to worry. What was this place? What would happen to him? Was Roxas Ok? Would he ever see his friends again? At the mention of this, something began to glow in Sora's pocket it was the silver charm. Then in response, Sora's chest began to glow but was soon stopped as black flames enveloped his chest instead. Soon the charm's glow spread, and completely enveloped Sora in light.

"**Sora! Wake up!" **Said Roxas's familiar voice.

Sora groaned in response. It looked like he was finally out of the darkness. Unfortunately, coming to his senses meant that the massive pain from his injuries returned to his body. Sora started panting heavily as his chest was overwhelmed by pain. He could hear the sound of fire burning around him, and could smell the smoke. He could feel that he was currently lying on what felt like damp concrete. Slowly Sora opened his azure eyes only to find that it was rather dark with exception for the fire that seemed to surround him. As his vision focused he began to notice the dark neon-lit buildings, the scraps of metal on the floor, and the giant heart-shaped moon that loomed above the city.

"**Finally awake are we?"** Roxas said. Sora nearly jumped in surprise, he had definitely missed noticing the transparent form of his nobody sitting cross-legged next to him.

"Yeah." Sora groaned. "What happened? I mean I know where we are, but how did we get here?"

"**Well you started crying out in pain, and passed out. The ship began to plummet into the world, and basically turned into a flaming meteor." **Roxas said.** "All I was able to do was cast a reflect spell before the ship crashed. Though I have to admit, it was a close one."**

"Oh." Sora said grimly. He didn't expect things to turn out like this. He looked around to see the remains of the Invincible. "Cid is gonna kill me for this."

"**Well this IS the second ship you have crashed, in a week no less."** Roxas said.

"I guess you're right." Sora said. "Hey, I didn't notice before. How come you are wearing your organization cloak?"

"**Huh, this?"** Roxas said as he looked down at his gloved hand. **"Actually I don't know. When I separated myself from you I was already wearing it. Maybe this world has an influence on what I wear or something."**

"So what now?" Sora asked. "Where in the dark city are we? I don't remember seeing this part."

"**Oh yeah, when you guys came here you only got to see a small part of this world. We are actually pretty close to Memory's Skyscraper. The entrance was blocked by an overturned truck remember?"** Roxas said. **"Anyways, I think we should forget about doing this. The castle has collapsed, this world is infested with heartless, and you are in no condition to fight them."**

"But- " Sora was about to say, before he was interrupted by Roxas.

"**Sora we can't risk it, you're condition is getting worse."** Roxas said with a serious tone. Sora only looked at Roxas with a confused expression. **"When you passed out, this black liquid started pouring out of your chest. Forget the castle we need to get you back as soon as possible."**

Sora was shocked to say the least. He looked down at his chest to see that there were no black stains on his clothes. Of course that was only because they were magical. Instead he painfully lifted his shirt to see that the black wound had grown to almost twice its original size. He had to blink twice to believe what he was seeing. It wasn't just his imagination, it was growing! Roxas was right, he WAS getting worse.

"Could this get any worse?" Sora said grimly.

Of course Sora had forgotten that the mention of that phrase was taboo, as it usually brought misfortune to those who uttered it. On the other hand Roxas was fully aware of this, and nearly facepalmed himself once he heard this. As soon as Sora finished saying this sure enough misfortune ensued. The keyblade master was quickly distracted as he felt a violent shiver go down his spine. Roxas seemed to feel it too, as he also became tense. As the fire continued to crackle, shadows began to swirl around them. Soon yellow eyes emanated from the shadows, as a distinctive hiss could be heard.

"**You just had to say that didn't you."** Roxas said sarcastically, as he faced the three Neoshadows that had just appeared.

"They aren't that many, should we just fight?" Sora asked as he painfully got up.

"**No, if we use the keyblade, even more are going to show up. I've been there, and trust me you don't want that."** Roxas said, as the heartless got closer and closer.

"So we just make a run for it?" Sora asked.

"**Yeah."** Roxas said as he quickly grabbed Sora's hand, and dragged him away from the wreck, barely missing a Neoshadow attack.

Roxas let go of Sora's hand, as he motioned the keyblade master to follow him. Roxas had to run at a slower pace, so that the currently wounded Sora could catch up. When they arrived at the overturned bus Roxas had to quickly help Sora up, since they were still being followed. The heartless however, were acting in a peculiar manner. Rather than immediately attacking them, they would temporarily keep their distance, as if unsure. Only a few had actually decided to spring to action. But unfortunately, when one decided to attack, all the rest followed.

The two Keyblade Masters had finally reached Memory's Skyscraper. Amazingly this place was untouched by the final battle against Xemnas. The many screens on the top of the massive building were flickering, as alive as the neon signs in the rest of the city.

"So what now?" Sora asked panting.

"**Well the Brink of Despair is out of the question."** Roxas said, as he tried to alleviate the tension.

"How about we go to the Alley to Between?" Sora asked, still trying to catch his breath. "Maybe the portal to the virtual Twilight Town is still there."

"**That should work, then if it's still functional we could go to the real Twilight Town from there."** Roxas said. Unfortunately both teens failed to notice the shadows that had begun to gather in the area, or the shadow that slowly approached them from behind. In the blink of an eye, a Neoshadow shot out from the shadow and lunged at the former nobody.

"ROXAS WATCH OUT!" Sora shouted, as he shoved Roxas out of harm's way. Instead, Sora took the full damage from the attack. Sure Roxas's form was transparent, but that did not mean it was immune to pain. Sora tried to get up but instead the same Neoshadow clawed onto his right leg, making him fall to the ground with an agonizing scream. Soon more Neoshadows joined, and ganged up against the keyblade master.

"**GET OFF OF HIM!" **Roxas shouted, as he charged his energy, and struck some of the heartless with a thunder spell. Roxas had already dealt with a giant hoard of Neoshadows in this place before, he wasn't about to deal with them again. Instead he quickly took care of the remaining Heartless with Oathkeeper, and Oblivion. Once the heartless had vanished in a cloud of black smoke, Roxas quickly helped Sora get up. **"You OK?"**

"It got my leg." Sora said painfully. He let out a small whimper, as he tried to stand on the bleeding limb. When he realized it was useless, he gathered his remaining magical energy to cast Cure. Although it didn't fully heal it, at least it stopped the bleeding. "Don't worry I'll make it."

"**Are you sure you will be able to walk?"** Roxas asked worried. He gave up on his question when he was met with Sora's determined blue eyes. **"Alright. Anyways we should hurry, more heartless will be drawn to this place since I used the keyblades."**

Sure enough the presence of the increasing Heartless could be felt. In the distance it looked like a slowly advancing black and yellow mass. Sora and Roxas were now walking along the winding streets of the Fragment Crossing. It seemed to take forever to walk a small distance thanks to the twisting streets. Both teens knew that they would have to hurry up in order to escape the rapidly approaching wave of heartless. While Roxas was in the lead, Sora struggled to keep up. Things were made difficult with the newly acquired limp on his leg. Things were made even more difficult once Roxas spotted at least a dozen shadows out of the corner of his eye.

"**Come on Sora we have to hurry up!"** Roxas said while still running.

He quickly came to a halt once he realized that Sora wasn't responding. To his surprise, Sora lay shivering on the concrete few meters away from him. On the other hand, the heartless were quickly invading the area. Shadows, and Neoshadows swarmed the streets and even the surfaces of buildings. Without hesitation Roxas ran towards the fallen Keyblade Master, dismissed his keyblades, and lifted him onto his back. Using the adrenaline rush in his system, and the sheer force of will, Roxas ran through the dark streets with a wounded Sora on his back.

"**Hold on we're almost there!"** Roxas said to the shivering form of Sora.

The alley entrance wasn't far off. Unfortunately, the heartless were now catching up to the two teens. One Shadow was close to clawing Roxas's leg, while a Neoshadow was able to successfully take a swipe at Roxas's arm. Roxas bit his lip to suppress a pained cry, and instead cast Blizzard to fend it off. He continued to run like his life depended on it (which it did), and had finally reached the entrance to the alleyway. To his horror the walls of the alley were crawling with heartless, like a hive full of bees. Roxas sprinted towards the portal that exited the world, as the walls seemed to close in with the large amount of heartless that clung to the sides. At the same time the heartless that had been pursuing them had formed a massive wave that threatened to overflow the whole alley in darkness. Before he was consumed by the wave, Roxas closed his eyes hoping that this would work, and leaped at the portal with Sora still on his back. Behind him the darkness overwhelmed the alley, like a massive wave crashing against a shore.

* * *

Yen Sid continued to watch the landscape from the window of his study. Even now when things were looking dire, he always seemed to find peace when he contemplated the wonders of the universe. Being a powerful wizard had many advantages in certain occasions. Unfortunately, there were times where even the strongest of wizards were powerless to help. This was one of those times.

"Master Yen Sid." Said an old lady. She had a fully gray head, and wore a strange red and gold dress with a matching pointed hat. She also had small red fairy wings, and carried a slender wand in her hand. Overall she looked very kind, like the typical grandmother.

"Flora, I take it that the preparations are ready." Yen Sid said as he turned towards her.

"Yes, Fauna and Merryweather have already gone on ahead. I will join them soon to spread the word." Flora said. "I can't help but worry for the poor dear, isn't there anything we can do for him?"

"I am afraid that we cannot do anything for the Keybearer. All we can do for now is to help the affected worlds, and prevent the heartless threat." Yen Sid said grimly.

"I understand, I just hope everything turns out alright." Flora said as she hugged her wand close to her. "Well I believe I should be going now."

The fairy waved her wand around her, and disappeared in a shower of sparks. Yen Sid turned towards the window, and glanced at the scenery again. In the distance he could see a large menacing storm cloud getting closer, with thunder alerting him of its danger. Everything that was happening; the heartless, the outbreaks, the storms, and more. Everything could be traced back to one person, the key that connected all those hearts together. That key was Sora.

Lightening continued to flash outside, shortly followed by thunder. Seeing this, Yen Sid tore his gaze away from the window to give his study one last look. The time had come for him to follow the fairies, and help where he was needed. Yen Sid spread his arms forward as the storm raged outside, and in a flash of lightning, he was gone. The previously lit candles were all turned off, as the study itself became dull, and seemed to loose it's magic.

* * *

The room was quiet except for the low buzzing sound from the surrounding machinery. Roxas's transparent form got up from cold floor. Sora lay next to him shivering. His eyes were pressed together, and he clutched his body like a person who was freezing. Roxas looked behind him to see the portal, and then around to realize that he was in the same area where he had once fought Axel. It happened before he was reunited with Sora, after he had discovered that his life in Twilight Town was all a lie. He had actually had all his memories erased, and was placed in a simulation so that Sora could be awoken from his sleep.

"**Sora are you alright?"** Roxas said, as he tried to shake Sora from his current state. Sora's breathing seemed to calm down, but otherwise Sora didn't respond.

Sighing heavily Roxas put Sora's arms over his shoulders, so that he could carry him on his back. He decided to take the door in front of him since, if he remembered correctly, the other lead to the room where Sora's pod was. Once he was in the next room, the first thing that caught his attention was the broken computer. Its many screens had been smashed to pieces, while the occasional spark flew off the contraption. Roxas still remembered how it happened. After all, he was the one that took his anger out on the machine. He remembered discovering about his true identity, how he had been living a lie within a fake town, and how he was expected to give up his existence for the keyblade master. He never hated Sora, after all it never was his fault. Though Roxas had to admit, he was kind of jealous. Unlike him, Sora was free to do all he ever wanted to do. He wasn´t.

Roxas snapped back from his thoughts after he felt Sora shake. The former nobody shook his head, how could he forget about Sora? He had to admit; slowly he had taken a liking to the cheery teen. Sora was just one of those people that really pulled you in. Roxas moved towards the bright beam of light that emanated from a device next to the computer. By touching that light, one could be transported to the real Twilight Town. Although tempted to come back to the virtual town and meet his friends again, Roxas decided against it. What he lived there wasn't real. His friendship with Hayner, Pence, and Olette was just as fake. With that he stepped through.

Roxas had to check twice before he was sure he was in the REAL Twilight Town. After noticing that the computer wasn't broken he was finally convinced. What he was more worried about at the moment was Sora's condition. Although his breathing had settled, he would occasionally shiver violently, and his temperature had spiked. The sooner he could get Sora some help, the better. Thankfully there were no Heartless, Nobodies or other enemies to hinder them. The only problem he encountered were the many stairs the Mansion had. Normally they were no problem, but when it came to carrying an unconscious body, things got a lot more complicated.

Soon enough Roxas found himself outside the Mansion, and in front of its gate. The thought suddenly occurred to him that this was actually his birthplace. This was where Xemnas had found him, and gave him his name. Thanks to that he became a member of Organization XIII. Not because he wanted Kingdom Hearts, or because he wanted to be whole. From the beginning he had no choice but to join. He didn't have a name, memories, or a place to call home.

"**Well I guess what really matters is what is happening now. There's no use crying over spilled milk."** Roxas said in a low voice, as if he was talking to himself.

Roxas continued his walk, and soon he was in the woods outside of town. Sora was really starting to feel heavier with each step. Being transparent also gave Roxas the feeling that Sora might just suddenly pass right through him. Roxas's heart finally sunk as he saw the crack in the wall that served as an entrance to Tram Common. Now that he was finally here, he had forgotten something crucial. How was he supposed to get help? He didn't know the people from the REAL Twilight Town, only their virtual counterparts. He was also sure that he would cause a lot of commotion considering the fact that he was see-through. What if he ran into Seifer? He DEFINITELY didn't want that. What would Hayner, Pence, and Olette think? After all the possible scenarios played in his mind, Roxas took a deep breath and stepped forward. After all, this he was doing this all for Sora.

* * *

It was a lazy day in Twilight Town. The sky was in twilight as usual, with exception to a few menacing gray clouds. Not many people were accustomed to rain. Because of this, only a few shops were open, and Tram Common was almost empty. The only signs of life, as far as the eye could see, were three teens that were simply walking through the streets, eating ice cream. It was indeed a rare sight, since school had started not so long ago, and most of the youth were at home doing school work.

"Awww man, isn't there anything to do around here?" Said one of the teens. He was a blonde haired boy, with brown eyes. He wore camo shoes and pants, a black shirt with a skull, and cross bones drawn on it and a light green vest.

"Well you know Hayner, you could be at home doing your homework." Said the other teen. She was a brunette girl with green colored eyes. She wore an orange shirt with the design of a flower on the side, yellow shorts and matching sneakers.

"Ooh, Olette got you good!" Said the last of the teens. He was a rather chubby brunette with brown eyes. He wore a pair of baggy blue jeans, a white and red jersey with some shapes and the words "Dog Street" written in white letters, some blue and white sneakers, a purple bandana around his neck, and a black and white headband.

"Oh come on, homework's no fun." Hayner said as he took out a huge bite out of his sea-salt ice cream. "Besides Pence, doesn't it feel to you like something is up?"

Both Pence and Olette had to agree with Hayner. Ever since Sora had gone to the other Twilight town through the Mansion´s basement, the abnormal activity in town had completely stopped. Hayner, Pence, and Olette hadn't heard from the keyblade master ever since. Things had been as calm as ever until a few days ago when things started to change. For once the weather had been odd, even the beach had to be closed temporarily due to the storm that swept through the area. There was also some unrest among the townsfolk, and although many attributed it to the storms, the three teens felt differently about it. To them it felt like something was about to happen.

"So do you think Sora made it? Do you think he was able to rescue Kairi?" Olette asked somewhat nervously.

"Come on, we've gone over this like a thousand times! You saw how he beat those white things, there's no way he could've lost." Hayner said energetically.

"Yeah, he even beat Seifer in a Struggle match. Maybe he just hasn't been able to come back to tell us how it went. I mean Sora really is a strange guy. He just seems to come out of nowhere." Pence said as he finished his ice cream.

"Yeah, when we first met him, didn't he seem familiar to you? Then in the station, the train he boarded, wasn't that the ghost train?" Olette said.

"Yeah, he just seems to be always caught up in weird stuff. Remember when Kairi came, she just flew out the back portal thing that appeared in the wall of the Usual Place. Then that guy in the black cloak also appeared in a similar way and kidnapped her. Then the pouch, and crystals from the other Twilight Town." Pence said. "Every time there is trouble going on, Sora appears again."

Hayner, and Olette found themselves agreeing about everything Pence said. Besides the story that Kairi told them when they had met her, they really didn't know much about him. It still seemed incredible to them that the boy had crossed many worlds, and fought monsters created from darkness in order to save his home, and find his friends. The conversation was quickly interrupted by Hayner, who became distracted by something he saw in the distance.

"Hayner, what is it?" Olette asked.

"Look! The entrance for the woods. What's that?" Hayner asked as he pointed at the entrance in the distance.

"Are those people?" Pence asked, as he squinted his eyes in an attempt to see better. It was hard to tell what it was from the distance. All they could make out was a weird figure in black, that moved sluggishly as if carrying something.

"Come on, let's get a closer look." Hayner said as he darted off.

The trio ran quickly towards the opposite side of Tram Common. What they found there however, was nothing they had ever imagined they would find. The ghostly figure of a cloaked blonde boy was carrying the pale, and injured form of their friend Sora. The ghostly blonde then laid Sora on the ground, as he collapsed on his knees panting. There was a long awkward silence as the ghost blonde's familiar azure eyes met with that of the trio of teens. Finally Olette was the first to react.

"EEK! GHOST!" Olette cried out, while Roxas simply looked at the girl wide-eyed. Pence was staring blankly at the scene before him, as if unable to process what was happening. Hayner on the other hand, saw the injured Sora, and quickly took a battle stance.

"He's wearing a black cloak, he must be with the guys that took Kairi!" Hayner said angrily as he lunged at Roxas with his bare fists. "What did you do to Sora!?"

"**Wait! It's not what it looks like!"** Roxas said desperately, as he dodged Hayner's blows. He wanted to slap himself for his stupidity, how could he forget he was wearing his Organization XIII cloak? Of course they would attack him, after all the things Organization XIII had done, who could blame them? **"Will you guys just listen? I'm not a bad guy!"**

"Why should we trust you?" Hayner asked as he stood in front of both Pence and Olette, in an attempt to shield them. This time his brown eyes met Roxas's Azure eyes. Suddenly an overwhelming wave of familiarity swept Hayner as he realized something. The same seemed to occur with Pence and Olette.

"Wait… Sora?" Pence asked as he stepped closer to take a better look at the cloaked teen. Olette gasped in surprise, as she noticed the similarities. The blonde looked almost exactly like Sora. In fact, anyone would think they were twins.

Roxas shook his head, as he turned to the unconscious form of the Keyblade Master. **"I'm Roxas. It's a long story, but right now Sora needs some urgent attention."**

Hayner nodded. "Let's get him to the Usual Spot."

Now that the misunderstanding was over, the former nobody turned towards Sora, and attempted to lift him up. Seeing that Roxas was struggling to lift Sora, both Hayner and Pence decided to do it for him instead. Roxas gave then a thankful smile, carrying Sora had taken a lot from him. Together they all made their way to the Usual Spot.

"Ummm, Roxas?" Olette said shyly. They had already gotten to The Usual Spot, finished laying Sora down, and had even put a wet cloth on his forehead to help against the fever.

"**Yeah, what is it?"** Roxas said. It was rare to see Olette acting in such a way. Roxas knew this because of her virtual counterpart. He just assumed that she still felt uncomfortable talking to a transparent person.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for freaking out, and calling you a ghost." Olette said apologetically. "You're not really a ghost right?"

Roxas shook his head. **"Don't worry, I'm not a ghost."**

"So, who exactly are you?" Pence asked, as he sat down on a nearby crate. "I mean, you just seem so familiar. Have we met before?"

"No, it's more than that. It's like we know you, not just met you." Hayner said, as he leaned against the wall.

"**No way…could the simulation have affected their hearts?"** Roxas asked himself a little too loudly. Now Hayner, Pence and Olette all looked at Roxas curiously.

"What simulation?" Olette asked.

"**Well, I guess I should start from the beginning. You guys know what the heartless are right?"** Roxas asked.

"Yeah Kairi explained it to us. She said they were basically the darkness made real, and that when a person lost their heart or gave in to the darkness, they too would become a heartless. She said they acted purely out of instincts, continuously searching for hearts." Pence said. Roxas nodded in response. "But what does this have to do with you or Sora?"

"**I'm getting there just wait."** Roxas said. This was not going to be an easy conversation. **"You about a year ago when Sora's home world got overrun by the heartless, he was chosen to wield a legendary weapon known as a keyblade. Keyblades are what the heartless fear most. They can lock or unlock anything, and very few people can actually wield them. In his quest to find his friends, restore his home, and stop the heartless; Sora came to discover that Kairi had lost her heart. Fortunately she didn't turn into a heartless because she had no darkness in her heart. Sora finally discovered that her heart had taken refuge within him, and in the end he was able to give it back to her at the cost of his own."**

"What are you talking about?! Sora isn't a heartless!" Hayner said, expressing the shock that the three teens felt at the moment.

**"He isn't a heartless anymore, because Sora was actually able to regain his heart. Theoretically if the heartless reunites with its heart, then it becomes whole again."** Roxas said.

"But where does that leave you Roxas?" Olette asked.

Roxas took a long deep breath. This was going to be hard to explain. **"When a strong hearted person becomes a heartless, sometimes the shell that is left behind begins to act on a will of its own. Since the resulting creatures have no hearts, they are said to be nonexistent. Because of this they are called Nobodies. Unlike Heartless, nobodies act on a higher manner, not just instinct. They also have memories of being human, just no feelings. You guys might know them as the white things that attacked Twilight Town. The strongest even retain their human forms, they resemble their original selves with just a few differences."** Roxas paused as he looked at the expressions of the three teens change. Apparently they had just figured it out.

"Wait…you mean…you're?!" Olette said shocked.

"**That's right, I'm Sora's Nobody."** Roxas said. The three teen's jaws dropped simultaneously as silence overwhelmed The Usual Spot. Roxas had to wait for the three to compose themselves before he continued. **"The strangers in black cloaks that would sometimes roam Twilight Town were also Nobodies. They used to form part of a group called Organization XIII, that is until Sora defeated them. Their intentions weren't exactly evil, as they only wanted to be whole again. However, their methods were far from saintly."**

"Wait, how come you are wearing a black cloak?" Hayner asked somewhat suspicious.

"**I used to be part of Organization XIII too. Number XIII, Roxas, The Key of Destiny."** Roxas said as he looked down at the ground. **"I wasn't like the other Nobodies, for starters I could feel. Since Sora was a Heartless for a short amount of time I also had none of his memories. Since I was his Nobody, I could also wield the Keyblade, that's why the Organization was interested in me. I had nowhere else to go, and no memories to guide me. So I was given a name, and joined. After I discovered what Xemnas, our leader, was after, and since the organization didn't answer my questions, I left. I wanted to know who I was, and why the Keyblade had chosen me."**

"…Man, sorry for having treated you like that." Hayner said apologetically.

"**Nah it's alright. I wasn't THAT bad, at least I always had Axel to cheer me up." **Roxas said. **"Yeah, he was my friend, even now I think he did have feelings. Although you guys know him as the guy who kidnapped Kairi."**

"Wait, you were friends with that guy?!" Pence said shocked.

"**Yeah, he really wasn't as evil as you guys think." **Roxas said.** "He only kidnapped Kairi so he could see me again. He even helped Sora in the end. We used to go together after missions, get ice cream, and watch the horizon from the Clock Tower."**

"So I guess there really was more to him than met the eye, huh?" Olette said. "What happened to him?"

"**In the end, Axel gave his life so that Sora could go into Organization XIII's world."** Roxas said gloomily.

"Oh…I'm sorry." Olette said.

"**No, it's alright. Even now I don't think Axel is truly dead."** Roxas said as he paused to reflect. A long silence overtook The Usual Spot as the teens processed what Roxas had told them.

"Wait, you still haven't explained why it is we find you so familiar." Hayner said.

"**Oh yeah, I almost forgot."** Roxas said sheepishly. Hayner and the others could easily see the resemblance with Sora. **"When I left the O****OOo****rganization I fought with Sora's friend, Riku. Although I thought I had him beat, he unleashed his power and defeated me. I was placed in a simulation of Twilight Town, and given a new identity in the hopes that I would eventually rejoin Sora. You guys know that place as the other Twilight Town. Sora on the other hand, had been placed on a year-long sleep to regain the memories that had been modified in his previous adventure. It was thought that if I rejoined Sora he would awaken from his sleep. "**

"So that must be why Sora was kinda clueless when we first met him. He had just woken up right? That's also why his clothes didn't fit him." Pence said.

"**That's right." **Roxas said.** "In the simulation Twilight Town I lived a fairly normal life. The town had data collected from the hearts of the original inhabitants. In other words, everyone in the real town had a virtual counterpart that acted like the original. It was there where I became friends with your virtual counterparts."**

"You mean we were friends in the simulation?" Olette asked. "Then how come we recognize you now?"

"**I don't know, but my guess is that your hearts and the ones from your virtual selves are connected."** Roxas said.

"Roxas…you and I were…best friends right?" Hayner asked. Roxas looked at Hayner surprised but then slowly nodded. Pence and Olette also looked surprised as if they realized something. "I just remembered this dream. I've been having it for a while now but once I wake up I always forget it. In the dream you were our friend, and we were enjoying the last week of summer vacation. But then these strange things start happening to you. First pictures of you are stolen, then when we get money to go together to the beach you tell us that a man in a black cloak took it. In the end, before we were going to search the town, you disappeared. Was it more than just a dream?"

"Hey, I´ve been having the same dreams too!" Pence said. "We searched for the seven wonders of twilight Town right?"

"Yeah and you beat Seifer in the struggle match!" Olette said excited.

"**That's right, all those events took place in the other Twilight Town." **Roxas said.

Now that the curtain of doubt had been lifted, Roxas found it much easier to talk to the three. After Hayner asked him what had happened to Sora, Roxas proceeded to explain all that had happened. Of course, Roxas did not mention the fact that Sora's life was on dire peril, or the exact details of Sora's injuries. He obviously didn't want to worry the three, especially now that Sora seemed to be on a stable condition.

"**Well, I guess I should be going now."** Roxas said as Sora began to stir.

"Wait where are you going? Hayner asked surprised.

"Yeah, why don't you stick around for a bit?" Pence asked.

"**I'm rejoining Sora. I´ve been separated from him for too long, and I'm afraid it's too stressful."** Roxas said.

"Will we see you again?" Olette asked.

"**Don't worry I'm always with Sora, even if you can't see me."** Roxas assured them. He got up from his seat and walked over to Sora. To everyone's surprise, Roxas's transparent form began to glow blue, and soon disappeared just as Sora glowed too.

The three teens stood there awkwardly, not really knowing what to do now. Thankfully the silence was interrupted by the sound of Sora stirring. The keyblade master had unconsciously summoned the Kingdom Key Keyblade and was now hugging it tightly by the shaft while snoring loudly and drooling. Olette proceeded to giggle, while Hayner and Pence laughed. Sora woke up groggily to the sound of the teens laughing.

"Hayner… Pence… Olette? What happened?" Sora said as he just realized that he was in The Usual Spot, hugging the Kingdom Key.

"Roxas brought you to Twilight Town." Olette said.

"Yeah, you looked horrible." Hayner said.

"Wait, you guys know about Roxas?" Sora asked, utterly surprised.

"Yep, he explained everything." Pence said.

"**Yeah, despite the misunderstanding from before. Olette thought I was a ghost, while Hayner wanted to pummel me."** Sora said, though the voice that came out was actually Roxas's. Sora quickly clasped his mouth shut with his hand, while the three teens looked at the Keyblade Master with confused looks on their faces.

"Erm, that was Roxas." Sora said slightly embarrassed. _'Why did you have to go and do that?'_

_**'Sorry, couldn't help myself.'**_ Roxas replied. _**'But don't worry, I didn't tell them about your predicament.'**_

After having their shares of laughs, and dismissing the Keyblade, Sora left with the three teens to go to Tram Common. To everyone's surprise his fever was gone. They all agreed that Sora healed at an amazingly fast rate. Sora felt happy to be in Twilight Town again, something about this place reminded him of home. Maybe it was because this was Roxas's home town.

_**'So, where to now?'**_ Roxas asked.

_'How about going to see Yen Sid? He might be able to help us.'_ Sora thought.

The group of teens headed towards the train station only to find that the train that headed to Yen Sid´s tower was gone. Instead, and thanks to Pence´s suggestion, they headed for the Moogle-run synthesis shop in Tram Common. As Sora knew, wherever there was a Moogle there was Mognet, and thus a way to communicate with Radiant Garden. Cid was going to kill him for crashing the Invincible, but right now he was pretty much stranded, and out of options. If he recalled correctly, the Moogle that ran the shop was Mog's sister Elmina. She must have some way to contact her brother in Radiant Garden.

"Oh, hello Sora. It's been ever so long since the last time I saw you kupo." Elmina the Moogle said. "Do you want something synthesized?"

"Hi Elmina." Sora said. "Actually, I was wondering if you had someway to communicate with Radiant Garden."

"Yeah sure, I was just about to send a letter to my brother." The Moogle said. "Just tell me what you need."

"I just need to tell the HBRC that I'm stranded in Twilight Town, and if someone could come and pick me up." Sora said.

"Sure." Elmina said as she finished making a note of it. "It should reach them in less than half an hour, since the service has gotten fast."

"Wow, that's fast!" Sora said surprised. It would have taken about three hours to get to Radiant Garden on the Invincible, and at least an hour on the Highwind if Cid was driving.

Now that contacting the committee was out of the way, the group continued to walk blissfully through the streets of Twilight Town. The time seemed to pass quickly as the teens laughed and joked around, telling each other their experiences. Sora even told them about Kairi's birthday, and showed them the silver charm bracelet that he would give her. It was a relief for Sora, since it gave him something to get his mind of the pain from his wounds. Before they knew it, the teens noticed the evident change in the weather. Both Sora and Roxas were surprised to see the gloomy storm clouds that floated over the town. Roxas knew from experience that it was a very rare sight, since he had never experienced a storm during his stay in Twilight Town.

* * *

It was a rather uneventful day at the HBRC headquarters. Cid sat lazily on his chair without anything else better to do. Since he had already finished updating the town's defense system, Cid found himself with nothing else to do. As far as he knew everyone was busy. Leon was training as usual, Yuffie had gone into town, Aerith was probably picking flowers somewhere, while Cloud and Tifa were…actually Cid had no idea what they were doing.

Even the weather didn't seem too happy either. Ever since Sora left things were just so gloomy. What bothered Cid most was the lack of news on the Keyblade Master's part. Tracking the ship had been useless too, as there was just too much interference. Just as he thought that, Cid heard a knock on the door.

"Hello, anybody home kupo?" Said the recognizable voice of Mog the Moogle.

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming." Cid said in his usual gruff voice, as he got up, opened the door, and let the Moogle in. Despite that, he was glad that whatever it was, it had just taken him out of his state of boredom.

"I just got a message from Sora." Mog said, much to Cid´s surprise. "He says that he is in Twilight Town and needs someone to pick him up."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN PICK HIM UP!?" Cid yelled.

The birds around Merlin's House flew off in fright, from the sudden outburst. The sound echoed through the Borough, and then through all of Radiant Garden. Yuffie who had been grocery shopping, was too distracted by the sound to notice the crack in the pavement of the streets she was walking on. She fell forwards giving an audible yelp, and landed on her face, scattering the contents of her bags. Similar reactions took place with the other members of the HBRC.

"Oh my." Aerith said as she looked up at the sky. The surprise had made her nearly rip out the flower she had been tending to.

Leon who had been training in the Ravine Trail had worse luck. He had been practicing his fireball shooting skills, and the distraction had caused him to loose control of the spell, making it explode in his face. "CID!" Said a scorched, smoking, and very angry Leon.

"Hey did you hear something Cloud?" Tifa asked as she sat down on the top of the cliff, next to Cloud. She could have sworn she heard a shout, followed by an loud explosion, that ended with another shout. She could have also sworn she heard Cloud chuckle in response.

Back in the Borough, Cid continued to shout. "ARE YOU TELLING ME HE CRASHED MY SHIP!?"

Cid continued his tantrum by shouting several obscenities that were heard throughout Hollow Bastion. Many mothers covered their children's ears so that they would not have their innocence ruined by the angry pilot. Cid on the other hand, grabbed some things, left a note, and fumed angrily out of the house in the direction of the gummi hangar. Keyblade Master or not, Sora was going to get it.

* * *

Pete had been nervously waiting for Maleficent´s arrival for some time now. After tracking down the Keyblade Master to this world, Pete had gathered as many heartless as he could, and brought them over. He had already been waiting for maybe half an hour in the damp, cold tunnels of Underground Concourse that ran throughout Twilight Town.

"Why is it that she always leaves me hanging?" Pete said. "Maybe I should just turn over a new leaf. Leave the heartless business."

"Oh, are you abandoning me so soon Pete?" Maleficent said coldly as she appeared behind Pete in a display of black and green flames.

"Maleficent! I…err…didn't see you there." Pete said nervously. Why did this always happen to him?

"It matters not what you said." The witch said as she caressed the black crow that was perched on her staff. "Now tell me. Are my Heartless ready?"

"Yes ma´m!" Pete said as he nervously gave Maleficent an army-style salute.

"Well then, shall we put them in action?" The witch said as she smiled evilly. "Soon the Keyblade Master will be out of my way, and NOTHING WILL BE ABLE TO STOP ME!"

* * *

From the lack of better options, the group of teens decided to go to the Sandlot. Although they knew they were very likely to encounter Seifer and his gang, they didn't see why it should let it bother them. After all, Sora had beaten Seifer in more than one struggle battle. If anything, the brash blonde was more likely to challenge Sora only to get beaten badly like he always did. On the other hand Hayner seemed quite happy with the idea, he wasn't about to let the opportunity to irritate Seifer just pass by.

"Hey chicken wuss." Said the cocky voice of Seifer, as he spotted the group of teens entering the Sandlot. Seifer was a blonde, tall, well built teen, with a sleek scar that ran diagonally across his face. He was wearing his usual attire that consisted or brown baggy pants, black boots, blue vest-like shirt, long white sleeveless coat, and a black knit hat with a kanji inscribed on it. He was with his a struggle bat in one hand, and had apparently been training. Around him was his usual posse that consisted of Rai, Fuu, and Vivi.

"Hey man, just cause Sora keeps owning you doesn't mean you get to insult him." Hayner said mockingly.

"Well then, I guess I'll just beat him. Besides I was referring to you, Blondie." Seifer said with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah ´cause Seifer´s gonna beat ya this time, y´ know?" Rai said. He was a tall, tan, dark-haired and muscular teen. He wore an orange tank top with a thunderbolt design, sporty dark baggy sweatpants, wide shoes, and also wore white and blue wristbands.

"Defeat." Fuu said monotonically. She was a stoic lavender-haired girl with red colored eyes. Despite that, her hair covered her left eye completely. She wore a simple blue sleeveless jacket, Capri pants, and periwinkle colored shoes.

"What did you say?!" Hayner asked angrily.

"You heard me chicken wuss." Seifer said slowly to make sure that Hayner could hear him perfectly.

"THAT´S IT!" Hayner shouted. as he lunged at Seifer. Sora could easily take on Seifer, Hayner on the other hand, could not. For that reason Sora, Pence, and Olette held their friend back.

"So what do you say Sora?" Seifer asked the Keyblade Master.

"STOP IGNORING ME!" Hayner shouted.

Sora accepted the challenge, even despite Roxas's protests. After all, Sora did not want his friends to know that something was wrong with him, he just didn't want to worry them. Sora was given a struggle bat to fight with, since the keyblade was too dangerous for a normal fight. Sora held the bat in his hand, testing its weight. Either the bats were heavier than before, or Sora was simply very tired.

Once the fighters were ready on the square arena, the fight began. Seifer began to attack relentlessly, as cheers filled the air on this rather gloomy day. Sora was unusually slow to react, but was thankfully able to successfully block the attacks. After about five minutes of continuous fighting, Sora still couldn't find an opening to land a hit. To make things worse, he was getting tired. Seifer on the other hand continued to attack endlessly. Not being able to block all the hits, Sora was struck on his side. Sora groaned from the pain, but seeing that Seifer's guard was down he took the opportunity to retaliate the hit. Using all the strength he could muster, Sora unleashed a large combo that ended with Seifer's defeat.

"Seifer´s not feeling too hot, cause of the weather, y´ know." Rai said.

"Invalid." Fuu said as she stood next to the defeated blonde.

"Way to go Sora!" Olette said happily. Hayner, and Pence continued to cheer him. Sora on the other hand, was on his knees catching his breath.

"Yes, good show Keybearer." Said Maleficent, as she appeared in the arena in a display of green flames, with Pete at her side.

"Maleficent!" Sora yelled, as he attempted to get up.

"Now let's see you deal with a much tougher crowd." Maleficent Said evilly. "Pete! Make sure that the Keyblade Master does not survive this encounter."

"Yes M´am!" Pete said. Maleficent left in another display of emerald fire.

As soon as she left, Pete began to summon hoards of Heartless. Five armored Knights surrounded Sora, while Shadows swarmed around the area. Sora quickly let go of his struggle bat, and instead summoned the Kingdom Key Keyblade. The sky above him was now a stormy gray, while bolts of thunder could be seen in the distance. Things around him had certainly taken a turn for the worst.

"What are those things?!" Seifer asked, after realizing that hitting the surrounding Shadows with the struggle bat didn't harm them.

"They're heartless!" Sora said, as he struck one of the Armored Knights, and successfully defeated it. "Quick! You guys have to get out of here NOW!"

"Haha, not so fast!" Pete said, as he raised his arms, and made invisible barriers block the exits.

"PETE YOU ROTTEN…!" Sora said, as he slashed another two Armored Soldiers, so that he ran over to his friends, and defend them. "Why are you doing this!?"

"Because once YOU are out of the way, Maleficent and I will be invincible!" Pete said, while he pointed at Sora, accusingly. "We will finally conquer the worlds!"

"You can't be serious." Sora said disapprovingly, as his path was block by more Armored Knights. "It's even worse than your last plan!"

"S-SHUT UP!" Pete said angrily, as he began stomping up and down in the spot, and summoning even more Heartless.

While Sora attempted to defeat the Heartless, Seifer and Hayner had no option but to use the struggle bats to fend off enemy attacks, and to protect the others. Soon Sora had to deal with Shadows, Neoshadows, Gargoyles, Wyverns, and Armored Knights crawling all over the place. While the Armored Knights confronted Sora directly, the Shadows and Neoshadows sunk into the ground, and crawled all over the Sandlot. The Wyverns and Gargoyles on the other hand, were perched on the top of the buildings, and would swoop down occasionally.

"Sora!" Olette cried in distress. The group had been backed against a wall by Shadows and Neoshadows. Unfortunately the Heartless were far too many to be warded off by Seifer and Hayner's joined efforts. Both teens were now tired, out of breath, and suffered from minor scratches.

Seeing that his friends were now being back against the wall, Sora did the only thing that he could think of. He quickly lifted the Kingdom Key to get the attention of all of the Heartless. "LEAVE THEM ALONE, YOU´RE FIGHT IS WITH ME!"

Immediately all of the Heartless in the area, including those that had pinned the teens against the wall, swarmed over to Sora. The Keyblade Master was now in the middle of the struggle arena, fighting the hoards of heartless that continued to try to overcome him. Several Shadows tried to attack Sora from below, while Neoshadows leaped to attack. Thankfully the Shadows, although numerous, were weak. Two Armored Knights used their sword-like arms to try and pierce Sora's defense, while a Gargoyle turned into a flaming ball of blue fire, and swooped down behind Sora to attack. Seeing the Gargoyle's plan, Sora was able to strike it first. Unfortunately, he was caught off guard by one of the Armored Knights, and was painfully hit in the chest. The strength of the attack threw Sora backwards on the floor.

"SORA!" Hayner, Pence and Olette cried at once. Roxas was also calling out from within Sora. Even Seifer, who was now holding onto Rai and Fuu for support, looked at the scene before him in shock.

Several Heartless took advantage of the situation, and quickly gathered around the fallen Keyblade Master. Sora lay on his back disarmed and wounded, as he clenched his teeth to withstand the pain. He had no time to rest however, as a Neoshadow lunged at him with several others waiting behind. Sora wrestled the Heartless off of him, and took out two Wyverns and several Neoshadows with a Thundaga spell. Sora fell to his knees in exhaustion, the fighting and spell casting had completely drained him. Unfortunately there were still many Shadows and Neoshadows that continued to circle Sora.

"Just give it up. You ain´t winning this time!" Pete said snidely.

_**'SORA GET UP!'**_ Roxas urged.

The group of teens were now desperately calling out to the Keyblade master. Sora on the other hand couldn't respond. His body trembled from his wounds and exhaustion. Beads of cold sweat ran down from his forehead. The sounds from both the teens, Pete, and the Heartless slowly faded, only to be replaced by the loud thumping of his tired heart. Even time itself seemed to slow down, as Sora vacantly looked around to see the Pureblooded Heartless leaping at him from all angles, empty hunger in their yellow eyes.

The moment Sora felt their cold black claws pierce his skin, an incredibly strong pang of pain erupted from his chest. Sora arched his back and let out a blood-curdling cry, as the pain spread to the rest of his body. To him it felt like his heart was being torn apart. In his mind he called out for Roxas, but it was as if he was no longer there.

The teens looked at the scene before them horrified. They could not see Sora under the large mass of Shadows, and Neoshadows, but the terrifying scream was more than enough to leave them stupefied. Even after the scream had faded into silence, an eerie ambience remained. It was the calm before the storm.

"Wha-what´s going on!" Pete asked agitated, as he began to slowly back away. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before.

The sky darkened and thunder shook the ground, as a large black pillar of energy erupted from the pile of Heartless. While many creatures instantly disappeared, others were thrown back from the sheer force of the explosion. A single blonde transparent figure was also thrown out from the chaos, painfully hitting the wall in the process. But before anyone could react, a deafening roar was heard from inside the smoke screen, that was created by the vanishing creatures. Everyone stood in shock, as the smoke dissipated to reveal a dark crouched figure. It was black with glowing yellow eyes like any other heartless. It stood on all fours, occasionally twitched, had slender black claws, and a fanged jagged mouth like many other Heartless. The only differences however, were the wispy strands of mist that emanated from its wrists and upper back, the purple-bluish tinge to areas of its body, and its overall humanoid appearance. Upon closer inspection, the teens began to notice a disturbing resemblance.

"S-Sora?" Olette finally asked. Then it hit them. The creature before them was none other than their friend, Sora.

Before anyone could react, several surviving Neoshadows lunged at the Keyblade master, only for him disappear from sight. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind them, and practically tore through them with his obsidian claws while giving a feral snarl. The remaining Neoshadows were disposed of in what looked like seconds. This shadow-like Sora moved in lightning fast speed, with a terrifying strength. The teens stood there in shock as they saw their friend attack with a horrifying savagery.

"M-my Heartless!" Pete shouted nervously. In seconds Sora had destroyed all of the Heartless.

Unfortunately, the sound caught the Keyblade Master's attention. He narrowed his glowing yellow eyes, and emitted a low hissing sound, as he prepared to pounce. Seeing the reaction Pete backed away slowly and prepared an escape via dark portal. After all, he knew he didn't stand a chance. Before he could step through though, Sora pounced at Pete with claws outstretched, like an unwinding spring. In shock, Pete only had enough time to envelope himself in a protective sphere. The barrier cracked under the immense strength of the attack, but instead of shattering away, it was pushed like a large bowling ball into the portal right before it disappeared. On the contrary, Sora somersaulted off the sphere, and landed unharmed on all fours.

The teens looked aghast at the scene before them. What had started as a normal boring day, was now possibly the scariest day in their lives. They had not only been attacked by monstrous black creatures, but now their friend had turned into one and easily killed them all. They didn't know who to be more afraid of at the moment. After all, the creature before them wasn't the Sora they knew.

Another thunder struck, this time closer than before. Unfortunately Olette was unable to withhold herself, and let out a small yelp. This was more than enough to grab the attention of the frenzied Keybearer, who turned to look straight at the group of teens who stood still in both shock and fear. His eyes glowed more brightly, as he let out a low growl, that sent chills down their spines. Once he stood in front of the group, he opened his mouth to reveal his sharp jagged fangs, and let out a sinister hiss. He crouched once more, readying to pounce. The attack was unleashed as thunder struck the far off Clock Tower.

Sora didn't know what was happening. His mind was too hazy. Was he dead? No, he was sure he was alive. All he remembered were the Heartless attacking him. He could recall their claws piercing his skin, an immense pain, and then darkness. The world around him was just bizarre, everything just looked so bleak and depressing. To make things worse he realized that he was truly alone.

The only figures he could see were all dark, and menacing. They all varied in size and shape, some were much darker than others. Shadows crawled in the corners of his vision, blinding him. Something was telling him to attack those creatures, because they had something he lacked. In reality, all Sora wanted was for the darkness to go away.

Sora's body seemed to move instinctively on it's own accord. He could feel himself jumping, and attacking the figures that threatened him. He looked down at his body only to refuse to believe what he was seeing. His whole body was black now, with dark mist emanating his wrists, his fingers now ended with slender black claws like that of a Heartless. Despite everything, Sora's head was just too hazy to make any sense of what was happening, or to react accordingly to what he had seen. Everything was just so unreal, it was like a dream to him. No, it wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare.

Sora ferociously leapt at the teens, only to be blocked by Seifer, and sent flying backwards by Rai, and Fuu´s attacks. Unfortunately for the blonde and his posse, Sora recovered in midair, and retaliated with dark magical beams that shot out and effectively knocked them out. Sora landed on all fours, staring at the remaining teens as his next prey. Hayner, Pence, and Olette stood there doubtful of what to do, as thunder struck again, and Sora prepared his next attack. Before he could release attack, a voice rang out throughout the Sandlot.

"**SORA STOP!" **Said the voice of Roxas. The blonde had apparently been knocked out, but was now conscious again. Moreover, he was now wearing different clothes . He was wearing a black short sleeved shirt with a zipper on the front, that had a four-pointed "X" shaped cross on the front. Over it was a white jacket shirt with a red collar and a black-and-white checkered pattern across the chest. The upper part of his pants were black but stopped halfway to his knees where the fabric was of a tan color. His shoes were gray with red straps. Roxas also wore a black-and-white checkered wristband on his left hand, and black and white cloth rings on his index and middle fingers of the same hand. Moreover he was now wielding Oblivion in his right hand, and Oathkeeper in his left hand.

Sora completely turned around to face his transparent self. Another low growl emanated from him, showing no recognition on his part. Instead Sora lunged at Roxas with his claws outstretched, and eyes glowing. Roxas was quickly able to block the hit with Oathkeeper and retaliate with Oblivion. He really didn't want to harm Sora, but right now he didn't have a choice.

Sora didn't seem to budge either. For being tired, and wounded, he still had a ridiculous amount of stamina. Most healthy people would have already dropped dead from exhaustion by now. Sora on the other hand continued to throw blow after blow, only to have Roxas block each hit every time. When Roxas did get a chance to attack, Sora would quickly dodge the blow and try to attack him from behind. Roxas would simply respond by guarding with Oathkeeper. Attacking with magic didn't work either, Sora would either dodge it easily or counter its with his own. It was a stalemate that seemed to go on forever. Unfortunately Roxas's stamina wasn't eternal, and if he didn't do something soon, it would be the end for both.

"**Sora, don't do this."** Roxas said slowly, as they began circling each other. Hayner, Pence, and Olette continued to look onto the scene before them.

Sora paused, and looked at Roxas with his glowing yellow eyes as if in confusion. Unfortunately it did not last long. As soon as thunder struck again, the sound made Sora shake his head, and leap at him while growling. Roxas blocked the hit and sent Sora flying backwards. Although talking didn't work, Roxas at least knew that Sora was still in there somewhere. All he needed was to find a way to make the Sora he knew surface.

Sora continued to deliver blow after blow, as Roxas struggled to keep up. Sora's primal mind recognized Roxas's actions as hostile, and thus reacted accordingly. This gave Roxas an idea, a painful idea. Taking a long deep breath he swatted Sora away again, only to have him recover in midair, and land meters away. Sora growled once more, and ran towards Roxas on all fours. Roxas also ran towards Sora, while he dragged his Keyblades behind him causing sparks to fly.

Once Roxas was near enough, he lifted his Keyblade as if trying to strike. Seeing this, Sora pounced once more at the transparent blonde. But before the attack connected, Roxas gave a small smile, and lowered his weapons, leaving him completely exposed. Thunder struck again, as time seemed to slow down in the Sandlot. Hayner, Pence and Olette, saw the blonde lower his guard, and receive Sora's fierce attack. Sora's claws slowly slashed across Roxas´ transparent chest, creating tears along his clothes, and cuts on the skin beneath. Roxas let out a painful cry, as he clutched his chest, and looked directly at his attacker that stood directly in front of him, glowing eyes wide open.

"ROXAS!" Shouted the three teens, as they ran towards the arena, in his aid. They no longer cared that Sora could easily defeat them. After all, both their friends were in trouble.

Sora simply stood there with his eyes wide open in shock. He no longer saw the shadows, or the dark menacing figures in his vision, instead he saw the Sandlot, and his friends. His mind was cleared of the haze, as he saw the worried faces of his friends as they assisted the wounded Roxas that stood before him. Sora looked down at his own hands to see slender black claws, covered in a fine red liquid. Sora took a step back in complete shock. He had just wounded Roxas. Roxas and the others seemed to notice too as they carefully approached him.

"**Sora?"** Roxas asked, as he looked at him with the azure eyes that were so similar to his.

"Is he alright now?" Olette asked Roxas, as she approached cautiously with Hayner and Pence behind her.

Sora took another step back, as he continued to look at his hands in shock. Now that he could feel himself coming to his full senses, he began to feel the pain and exhaustion from his injuries too. The pain hit him with an amazing strength that made him double over, and fall to his knees. Thunder struck again, as Sora let out a loud painful howl that slowly turned into a human cry. It felt like his heart was going to explode. Black mist emanated from Sora and enveloped him, as he felt the numbness leave his skin, his claws slowly disappeared, and his fangs shrank. The numbness was replaced by an agonizing pain that took hold of his body, and an exhaustion that left him unable to move. Sora soon collapsed on the ground, as his hearing failed him, and his vision began to fade. The last he recalled were the figures of his friends running towards him, as it began to rain.

* * *

**Canis: "So there it is! Hope you guys enjoyed it! ^-^"**

**Crystal: "…"**

**Canis: "Hey Crystal what´s wrong?" *pokes***

**Crystal: "…"**

**Canis: "I think I broke my beta reader."**

**Crystal: "… I admit that is was a great chapter, but I´m going to slap you senseless if you give me 40 pages in the middle of the night again."**

**Canis: *Grins***

**Crystal: "Don't give me that look. I know what you're thinking of doing!"**

**Canis: "Whatever do you mean?" *keeps grinning***

**Crystal: *looking suspicious* "Anyways, like always, reviews will be happily appreciated, so please do so."**

**Canis: "Reviews make the world go round."**

**Crystal: "Yep! Now put the cookie bag back in my pocket."**

**Canis: "Fine." *hands bag***

**Crystal: "Well, the chapter was worth the wait I guess."**

**Canis: "Yeah, I guess it was. Anyways I'll be away for a while so chapter 9 will be a bit delayed too, so see you guys then! *waves goodbye* Don't worry, I´ll try to not make a habit out of this."**

**Canis and Crystal Out!**


	9. Last Thing You Lose is Hope

**Hero's Heart Chapter 9: Last Thing You Lose is Hope**

**Hello Everyone, Canis here! Unfortunately I have some bad news. Due to a lack of inspiration, time, and feedback, I will stop writing Hero's Heart. I would like to thank those who supported me along the way, and apologize to everybody who actually read this story. I have summarized, and edited the original plot so that the story will end in this final chapter. I apologize for the crappy writing.**

**Lol just kidding, I said I would finish this story didn't I? I probably had you guys going for a while there. (THWACK!) HEY! What was that for Crystal? (Crystal glares) You never let me have my fun! (Whines). No but seriously, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is I'm in my last year of School (groans), which (as you may have already noticed) means slower updates. The good news is my midyear exams are over so I can finally write. Oh and again, reviews are GREATLY appreciated. Thanks to everyone who has taken their time to read this!**

**Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Kingdom. Hearts. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The trip was taking longer than anyone expected. After leaving their parents a note (adoptive parents in Kairi's case), and meeting with their friends from Disney Castle, Riku and Kairi boarded the Kingdom gummi ship and left for Radiant Garden. Unfortunately, not only was Destiny Islands already very far away from Radiant Garden, but with all the heartless ships and strange interference, it didn't look like they were getting there anytime soon.

Despite being the ship used for any "Official Business", it was surprisingly small. The cockpit consisted of two rows of seats: three in the first row (the captain's seat being in the middle), and two seats that were fitted for the new passengers. There were also several gadgets, including a communications screen, a radar, and another screen that showed the ship's current status. The windows of the cockpit were also made so they gave a wide 180-degree-view of what was in front of them, while an alarm rang to inform them of threats behind the ship.

King Mickey sat on the captain's chair, steering the ship, while Donald and Goofy sat at his sides, shooting at the incoming enemy ships. Riku and Kairi sat behind them, desperately grabbing the armrests of their chairs every time the King did a barrel roll. They had been fending off the Heartless for almost half an hour now, with no idea for how long they would have to keep it up.

There had been little exchange of words since the beginning of the trip. The King and his men had their full concentration on the swarm of Heartless before them. Kairi didn't really feel like talking either, due to the upset stomach that the ship's sudden movements gave her. If anything she was glad that she had missed breakfast that morning. Riku didn't talk much either, not that he was a very talkative person to begin with. Instead, he spent his time checking the ship's radar, and warning against the many approaching threats. This was one of those times when the silver haired teen really missed being able to use the Corridors of Darkness.

Finally after another twenty minutes of dodging and shooting, the wave of attackers had finally been defeated. Everyone onboard took this opportunity to check for damages. Aside from some minor hits to the ship's hull, everything seemed to be ok. Kairi also took the opportunity to offer the boys some snacks. She only managed to take a few bites out of her chocolate bar, since her stomach was still upset from the trip.

"So do you guys have any idea on what's been going on lately?" Riku said after finishing his own snack.

"Gosh Riku, according to Master Yen Sid, this is all because of Sora." Mickey said. He really didn't mean for it to sound so harsh but it was true. "As you guys said in the letter, ever since he disappeared, things have been going crazy. Yen Sid thinks that Sora is the key to everything that is happening."

"Gawrsh, I hope he's alright." Goofy said, as his head drooped low in a sad puppy gesture.

"Oh Sora…" Donald squawked sadly.

"Wait, but how can it be?" Kairi asked confused. "I mean, all the heartless, the storms, and the chaos. How can Sora's disappearance be causing all this?"

"Yen Sid said it's because of invisible ties. I think he was referring to the ties that bond our hearts together. Incidentally, all the worlds that have been afflicted have been visited by Sora at some time. We can't forget that he is also a Keyblade Master, he wasn't chosen for nothing. " Mickey said.

"The King is right. Sora's heart is stronger than it looks, and this isn't the first time his ties have affected others." Riku said. Of course everybody remembered what happened after Sora's first adventure. He had continued the search for Riku and King Mickey but instead got caught up in Organization XIII's plans. As a result of the whole ordeal, Sora was put into a year long sleep, while everyone forgot about his very existence. All of this because of those ties.

"Gawrsh, but what could've happened to Sora to cause all this?" Goofy asked. Although not the brightest bulb in the box, Goofy was known for his rare moments of brilliance.

"Do you think … Sora is okay?" Kairi asked worried.

"Come on Kairi, you know we couldn't get rid of him if we wanted to. I'm sure everything will be fine." Riku said in a in attempt to lift everyone's mood. After all, that was one of the things that Sora had taught him. His words still echoed clearly through his mind. 'Aw, c'mon, Riku. You've been hanging out in darkness too long. You gotta try and think positive!'

**'Don't worry Kairi, everything is going to be OK.'** Naminé said softly. Kairi was surprised, she really had no idea that Naminé had been listening to the conversation.

Kairi took out her lucky charm, and closed her eyes while smiling gently. "Thank you."

* * *

A shooting star shot its way across space at an amazing speed. Or at least what people _thought_ was a shooting star. In reality it was a gummi ship. This gummi ship in particular was going extremely fast, even for space travel. The reason for this was not because an amateur was piloting the ship, or because there was something wrong with it. The real reason why the ship went so fast, was because the driver was angry. In fact, angry would have been an understatement; Cid was furious.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!" Cid yelled at the asteroids in front of him, as he quickly turned the steering wheel, and did a barrel roll to avoid the obstacles.

It had probably been less than an hour since the pilot had left Radiant Garden. Despite that, he wasn't any less angry than before. Sora managed to crash two ships in less than a week. Cid wasn't even sure how that was possible. All he knew was that as soon as he landed in Twilight Town, and found the Keyblade Master, they were having a loooong talk.

"Huh, that's weird." Cid muttered to himself, as he saw the radar. According to the device there were several Heartless signals coming from Twilight Town, and all over the region. The weird part was the static that filled the screen, distorting the image before completely shutting it down. "Must be some kind of glitch."

Cid continued to dodge several asteroids, but was soon surprised when several swarms of heartless ships and strange looking black clouds, that gave off purple bolts of thunder, appeared. It was unusual to see so many Heartless in one place, but those ink colored clouds were a whole other story. Those were cosmic storm clouds, and as far as Cid knew, cosmic storms are not only dangerous, but they also mess up electronic equipment, and appear only when there is a huge outburst of darkness.

"So you're the one messin´ up my equipment… WELL I´M READY!" Cid said as he stepped on the accelerator, and recklessly charged forth at the crackling black cloud…

* * *

_Darkness slowly swallowed the Keyblade Master, as he struggled with each breath to break free from the cruel trap. It didn't matter how hard he pulled against it, darkness continued to hold onto him strongly, slowly creeping up his body, and pulling him down against his will. He was like an animal caught in a tar pit. Even though he struggled to break free with all his strength, soon enough he was neck deep in darkness and could feel that he was loosing the fight. He desperately reached forth with his only free hand for something, anything, to save him. His effort failed and Sora felt the darkness overwhelm him. Giving one last desperate gasp for breath, the darkness completely swallowed him…_

Sora woke up covered in sweat with a deep gasp for breath. He could vividly remember the feeling of suffocation from his dream. _If it was a dream_. He quickly got up and wiped the cold sweat off his brow, only to realize that he was visibly trembling. He also realized that he had no idea of what happened before he lost consciousness, which seemed to be happening a lot to him lately. Looking around, he discovered that he was laying on the couch inside the Usual Spot.

"What happened?" Sora muttered to himself. He had somehow hoped that Roxas would answer that question from inside of him. He was somewhat surprised when only silence answered him. All of a sudden, a massive jolt of pain took hold of him, and made him double over and clutch his head in agony. Images of heartless attacking in the Sandlot flashed into his mind. as the voices of his friends flooded his ears. That's when reality hit him and he remembered everything.

The Sandlot, Seifer, Maleficent and Pete, Heartless. Sora continued to clutch his head as more images filled his head, and a loud noise flooded his ears. He wanted to shout at the top of his lungs but nothing came out of his mouth. Now more images and memories popped into his head all crystal clear. He could now remember the black smoky skin, obsidian claws, and how he attacked the Heartless and his… The pain suddenly stopped and Sora suddenly felt sick with himself. He had attacked his friends, he even attacked Roxas! He got up from the couch and looked down at his own hands with fear and disgust, as he recalled Roxas's blood dripping from them.

Sora panicked as several questions flooded his brain; What happened? Were his friends okay? Where was Roxas? Was he…? No, he couldn't be. Sora took deep breaths to try and calm himself. Experience taught him that nothing good would come out of panicking. Once calm, he tried to assess his current situation.

He knew he was inside the Usual Spot, therefore he was safe. He also knew he was in pain, but could he could no longer tell if the pain he felt was due to his injuries, or his own mental anguish. More importantly: he knew he was afraid. He didn't understand why these things were happening, nor could he accept that they might happen again. The thought of turning on his loved ones terrified him. He was also scared of his friend's reactions. Would they treat him the same or would they see him as some kind of heartless monster?

Sora frowned, as he realized that the previous statement wasn't that far off. His thought process was interrupted by sounds that came from outside. He could make out several voices, even though they spoke quietly and without enthusiasm. Sora recognized the voices as that of his friends, and quietly sat down trying to make out what they said.

"Roxas, are you alright?" Said a feminine voice that belonged to Olette.

"**Yeah, don't worry, it's just a scratch. Sora is the one that worries me."** Said a voice that Sora easily recognized as Roxas's. He sounded unusually down, but of course it really wasn't his fault. Sora looked down at himself in guilt, he just couldn't accept the fact that he had wounded his friend. No, Roxas wasn't just his friend, he was literally a part of him.

"That was definitely scary." Said another voice that Sora recognized as Hayner. The Keyblade Master felt a wave of pain wash over him as he heard those words, though he still couldn't tell if the pain was physical or emotional. "Will he be ok?"

Roxas gave a sigh. **"I honestly don't know, but we have to keep going."**

Sora pondered on his words, he had no idea if he would be alright, he didn't know if anyone could help him at this point. The past events had really crushed his optimism. He could barely stand and listen to what his friends said. All he wanted was to curl up in a ball and pretend none of this was happening.

"So, what's gonna happen now?" Spoke the voice that Sora recognized as Hayner's. Sora unconsciously walked closer to the red cloth, that served as a door, so that he could hear better. He feared what his friends would say next, but the truth was that he couldn't stand NOT knowing either.

"**We have no choice, we'll have to wait for someone to come for us and then go back to Radiant Garden. Then-"** Roxas was saying until he heard a loud crash come from inside the building. Everyone hurried inside only to find the Keyblade Master lying on top of several boxes.

"OUCH!" Sora cried out as Hayner and Pence helped him up.

"**Sora you OK?"** Roxas asked. **"What happened?"**

"Err Nothing, I'm fine!" Sora said as he tried grinning sheepishly, despite of the pain that racked his body. The result was a very awkward smile.

He had been quietly listening to the conversation from behind the red fabric, when suddenly a wave of dizziness washed over him. He tried to regain his balance but instead he tripped and fell over a bunch of piled boxes. Of course he couldn't tell his friends. After all, only now did he realize that he had been eavesdropping on them.

"Riiight" Hayner said. Sora didn't know if he was just being sarcastic, or if he was in fact suspecting something.

The Keyblade Master simply stood there trying his best to smile, and hope the silence would pass. It was obvious that his friends were all inspecting him, as if searching for any threat, or a remainder of the dark creature that had tried to attack them. Of course, who could blame them. They were, after all, as shocked and confused as they were scared. Fear was a natural reaction to what they had seen, and had yet to understand.

It wasn't hard to imagine what his friends were thinking, as their expressions were like an open book just waiting to be read. Roxas looked at him with serious worried eyes like those of an older brother worried over his much younger and much more vulnerable sibling. It was strange though, seeing such a mature expression on a face that was almost identical to his. Aside from the tan and the hair the two teens were identical, yet Sora never wore such serious expressions, settling only for more childish and goofy ones.

_'So much like, yet unlike me.'_ Sora thought to himself like many other times before.

Although the same worry was evident in the other teens, their eyes had much more to tell. Hayner looked more on the edge than the other two. He was clearly worried about Sora, but he also eyed him cautiously and intently, as if he were a bomb just waiting to explode. Pence looked at him in a confused manner as if he simply couldn't believe what had happened only hours ago. He was not just getting over the shock, instead it was as if he believed this was some bizarre dream that he hadn't woken up from yet. Olette however seemed a lot more distant than the others. Not only was she looking down at the ground to avoid his gaze, but she was also fiddling with the bottom of her shirt. It was obvious that she was nervous, maybe even afraid. Deep down she cared for Sora like she would care for a brother, but she feared to look into his deep blue eyes and see the terrible black monster stare back at her. It was simply too much to take in, not just for her but also for the other two. Were they to simply accept the fact that their friend had just turned into a monster and attacked them? To accept that he would suffer a fate worse than death if they couldn't stop the darkness in time?

Nobody said anything for what felt like hours. Sora continued trying to grin and bear the dreadful atmosphere. Deep down he was wishing for the earth to swallow him or something. Anything, as long as it would get him out of this situation. Thankfully his prayers were answered and the silence was shattered by the sound of running outside. Shortly afterwards a rather strange individual entered the Usual Spot panting.

"Vivi?" Olette asked as if snapping from a trance.

Indeed, the little black mage stood before them trying to catch his breath. He looked quite odd, but then again, Sora had learned that normal was a very subjective term. He wore green pants, yellow shoes and a strange blue jacket. Even more strange was the large mage pointy hat the he wore over his head, shrouding his face in the shadows, all except for his yellow glowing eyes. Despite the resemblance, Sora could see that those eyes were not like those of the heartless. They were not pale yellow and empty, instead the yellow shone with childlike innocence and life.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Pence asked. Vivi had been looking around the Usual Spot only to have frozen once he caught sight of Roxas.

"Gh-gho-ghost!" Vivi stuttered out, as he shut his eyes closed, clutched the sides of his hat and pulled it down over his face in fear.

"Oh…" Everyone said at once. They had all forgotten that Roxas was still very see through.

"Oh don't worry about him Vivi. This is Roxas, he's our friend." Olette said as she comforted the black mage.

"Yeah, don´t worry about this idiot, he's harmless." Hayner added.

**"Gee thanks, I'll keep that comment in mind next time we struggle."** Roxas said jokingly. **"Sorry for scaring you, I'm Roxas, pleased to meet you."**

Thankfully, Vivi seemed to calm down considerably. He was no longer trembling and he even introduced himself to Roxas. The appearance of the little black mage had lightened the mood considerably. After a couple of lighthearted jokes, it came to everyone's attention that they had forgotten the reason as to why Vivi was there in the first place.

"Hey so Vivi, why did you come here, you wanted to tell us something?" Pence asked.

At this Vivi suddenly let out a cry and began waving his hands frantically and looked over at Sora. "I-I completely forgot! Sora… angry man … the station!!!"

"Whoa, slow down. Breath Vivi, breath!" Hayner said. Sora looked over at the black mage who was taking good long breaths and listened intently.

"There's this scary man near the station. He said he was looking for you, Sora. He also said his name was Cid and told me to come and tell you." Vivi said. "He looked really angry."

"**Uh oh."** Roxas said, getting questioning glances from the oblivious teens.

Sora winced. "Cid's gonna kill me."

* * *

"I´m gonna kill that kid." Cid muttered angrily under his breath, as he chewed on the toothpick hanging from his mouth. He had parked the gummi ship right outside the station, and was now crossing his arms and leaning against a nearby wall. He let out a low irritated growl. This was just not his day. "First the teenage ninja brat steals my cigarettes. Then Mog tells me that Sora needs to be 'picked up' after probably crashing another one of his ships. And now after about half an hour of having told the weird short kid to find Sora, there's still saw no signs of him. "

"Just what was wrong with the boy? Now that I think about it, the kid has been acting weird He isn't the best of gummi ship pilots, buts he's never been THAT reckless. Ever since that mission, the kid had been actin strange. Thought he would bounce right back into action, but guess I was wrong." Cid said to himself. "Dammit! Why is he taking so long!?"

Cid let out a sigh in defeat. "Well at least the town ain´t a bad sight. I mean, asides from the weather. Maybe I can set up a shop here sometime." Cid said as he looked around and scratched his chin. "That boy better hurry up though."

* * *

Aside from a short question or comment, the walk was uncomfortably silent. There was a looming atmosphere of dread that clung to the air, even though the rain and lightning had already subsided. The streets lacked any signs of life, aside from the group of teens that now looked completely out of place. The few remaining townsfolk that had been in the streets earlier had sought shelter from the storm and the horrifying feral growls that they had confused for lightning. As a result, and much to the Keyblade Master's relief, nobody had been harmed or (aside from Seifer and his posse) even witnessed the event.

Once they reached the top of Market Street, the troubled Keyblade Master came to a abrupt halt, making the other teens stop in confusion. All except Roxas, who had a good idea of what was to come. Instead, he walked forward and put his transparent hand on Sora's slumped shoulder, while his eyes made contact with his in a reassuring gesture. Roxas's transparent form then melted into a shower of blue sparks, as he joined Sora once more. Sora then took a long deep breath and entered the large open area called Station Plaza.

* * *

Cid was a tough man by nature. His intensive training had made him strong both physically and mentally. He had seen many amazing and terrible things during his life, things that nightmares were made of. He had seen hell up close. He witnessed his home being overrun by Heartless, as well as many of his close friends die at their hands, only to turn into the dark monsters afterwards. Yet despite all this, Cid felt a huge pang of pain strike his toughened heart once he saw the brunette boy walk towards him.

He looked dishearten to say the least. He still had the pale, sickly appearance from before, but even worse. His arms were covered in bruises and healing cuts. His shoulders were slumped, and he walked with his head lowered and eyes downcast, like a child too afraid to look at his parents for something he had done.

His friends weren't looking too well either, they all carried worried looks and were unusually silent for a normal group of teens. Of course Cid didn't know the kids personally, but one look at them told him that the kids had gone through hell. He was sure that they had seen something traumatic, and whatever it was, Sora probably knew about it.

"What happened?" Cid asked as his eyes made contact with Sora's. His voice had come out harsher than he wanted it to sound, causing Sora to flinch and look away.

"I-I wanted to check something in The World That Never Was, and you see…the ship crashed." Sora managed to answer with some help from Roxas. "I escaped to Twilight Town, but…"

"But what?" Cid asked, again harsher than he intended. In his mind he still wondered why Sora would want to go to the Nobody world.

"…" Sora chocked, having no idea what to say.

"Hey, back off will you!" Hayner said, coming to the brunette's rescue. Everyone looked in surprise, even Cid, who hadn't expected such a reaction. "Sora was just protecting us after those two freaks sent some Heartless to attack us!"

"Two freaks?" Cid asked, as he narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Yeah, there was this huge guy called Pete, I think." Pence said.

"And that creepy old hag." Olette added.

Sora looked at his friends in surprise and gratitude. They didn't tell Cid his secret, and were even defending him! Even though he had probably given them the biggest scare of their young lives, they still considered him a friend.

Cid's eyes widened once the teens named their attackers. _'But why would Maleficent and Pete attack the town? …Unless their target was actually Sora. Then maybe there was something that Sora wasn't telling them. It would certainly explain his behavior. It would also explain why he was looking around in Ansems's computer, and The World That Never Was. But then, what was so awful that he would hide it from his friends? Why was he acting so suspiciously?'_

"Sora get over here, NOW." Cid said sternly. Hayner and the others looked at Cid with a mix of anger, anxiety and disbelief. They could tell by the older male's tone of voice, what he planned to do, and what exactly awaited Sora.

Sora winced, but obeyed. He walked over and stood in front of the older male, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and braced himself for whatever punishment was coming his way. Sora flinched when he felt Cid's hand over his head, but he was in utter shock once, rather than delivering some bizarre form of physical punishment, the blonde ruffled his brown spiky hair.

He wasn't the only one, Olette and Pence also looked surprised. Hayner who had his fists tightly clenched and was ready to leap at Cid, was now staring blankly at the pilot.

"Come on kid, lets go." Cid said. He just couldn't stay mad at Sora. He admitted he was going soft. But then again, Sora was the real victim here. No being from any world would ever ask to go through the things he had gone through.

"W-wait But!" Sora said in utter confusion, but then quickly shut his mouth. He had just gotten off easy and he was not going to push his luck.

"Don't think yer off the hook kid, once we get to Radiant Garden we're not letting you out of our sight." Cid said, as he turned around and headed towards the gummi ship.

Sora looked at Cid and couldn't help but feel a bit happier than before. He turned towards his friends, and nodded as if silently bidding them farewell. The gesture was returned with warm smiles and a thumbs up from Hayner.

Sora felt a warm smile creep into his face, and a wave of relief wash over him. He followed the older blonde towards the shining portal that would transport them into the ship. He turned around to give his friends one good final look, when something caught his attention. In the sky there was a single small ray of light that had pierced through the dark gray clouds. Even though it was small, the light that emanated from it was strong. It was like a shimmer of hope. Just like him, it was a light that refused to be extinguished, no matter how bad things seemed. It was almost reassuring, and it made him happy. With his spirit renewed, Sora turned around and walked into the comforting light of the portal.

* * *

**Maybe things weren't as bad as they seemed…**

**Crystal: "Oh my gosh, you were actually sentimental."**

**Canis: "Weird, must have been something I ate."**

**Crystal: "Don't ruin the moment. Anyways, you also finally updated, I was getting worried."**

**Canis: "You see me nearly everyday, how can you get worried? On the plus side: I'M FREE, NO MORE SCHOOL! "**

**Crystal: "You mean we're free."**

**Canis: *Ahem* "Yes, that's exactly what I meant."**

**Crystal: "Whatever... Sooo, reviews anyone?"**


	10. Fallen

**Hero's Heart Chapter 10: Fallen.**

**Ok, Chapter 10 is finally ready! Sorry for the wait, but this chapter was _very_ hard to write and took A LOT longer for that matter. Not only because it contains key plot moments, but also because its extra long and full of fight scenes. Anyways, I'd really like to know what you guys think about the story, what you like, what you hate and what should be improved. I also want to thank those who have reviewed/added to Favorites/added to Story alert.**

**Oh, and the there is mild cursing in this chapter and there will probably be more from now on. There will also be some SoraXKairi, but that is NOT the main focus of the plot. This story is mostly centered around friendship.**

**Disclaimer: !straeH modgniK nwo t'nod I**

**Notice: HH has reached 1000+ hits!!!**

* * *

A single black castle stood on the cliff-like hill. Several areas of the castle had been long destroyed, making the place look more like an accursed set of decadent towers, than the lovely home of some noble or monarch. The sky had a sickly green tinge, whilst black clouds and constant thunder storms only helped to strengthen the eerie feeling that emanated from the place. Inside, the halls were dark and damp, several old tapestries hung from the walls but they were all old, torn, and rotten. There were several broken statues of what looked like demons and gargoyles in the corridors. The place also smelt strongly of mold and stagnant water, no doubt one of the causes for its decay.

Despite its seemingly abandoned state, the place was very much occupied. Amidst the occasional drip of water, the sounds of mumbling and heavy footsteps echoed through the halls. A large figure clumsily made its way through the dimly lit corridors, illuminated by torches that burnt green. Despite that, the figure's face was cast in shadow.

"Stupid brat and his stupid key." The figure muttered, along with several curses.

The figure continued to move rather ungracefully up several flights of stairs, which led to one of the towers. It finally reached the top panting, but almost fell down the stairs comically when it was startled by the thunder outside. After calming down and catching its breath, the figure continued walking until it stopped in front of a large door. It seemed to fidget nervously before opening the door and going in.

"Well Pete, you surely took your time." Said a robed figure that sat, perfectly hidden by the shadows at the end of the room.

Pete cautiously entered the room. It was round and was decorated by several strange artifacts, no doubt containing some form of magic, tapestries, and several chandeliers. In the middle of the room was a pedestal that held a strange orb that glowed green. The robed figure sat at the very end of the room on what appeared to be a crude stone throne. The figure stood up and walked towards the green orb on the pedestal. The orb's glow revealed the robed figure to be none other than Maleficent. She stood arrogantly with the look of utter disdain permanently plastered on her face. She was holding a long staff with a green orb and a crow perched on her shoulder.

"I-it´s not my fault! I-i-it was the keybrat´s fault! He just went crazy, see!" Pete stammered. Experience had taught him to never EVER get on Maleficent´s bad side, not that she had a _good_ side to begin with.

"Once again you fail me Pete. Though it was an error on my behalf to not have foreseen such incompetence." Maleficent said coldly as she stroked her pet crow.

"B-but!" Pete stuttered, as the green orb on the staff began to glow menacingly.

"Your little encounter did reveal quite a few surprises though." Maleficent said as a sadistic smile appeared on her face. "Yes, I believe it was quite helpful."

"What do you mean?" Pete asked confused. Her tone revealed some kind of hidden truth, something that she understood and nobody else did.

"I mean it is time for us to strike back." Maleficent said, still smiling evilly at her own plan. "Gather the troops Pete."

"B-but we don't have enough Heartless to attack! How are we ever going to win?" Pete said. "Besides, what about the Keyblade Master?"

"If what I saw was correct, I believe he is in no position to resist the attack. As for troops, I see no problem. After all, I've heard that, as of late, there are plenty of them already there. All we need to do is just show them the way." Maleficent said as she put her hand over the large orb, making mist swirl in the inside and a blurry image slowly appear.

Pete gave one final salute before dashing through the door. Maleficent stroked the pitch-black feathers of her faithful pet, as the image in the orb became clearer and clearer. Soon it showed the image of a certain brunette Keyblade Master, before shifting again and showing the familiar sight of a odd looking castle surrounded by a blue landscape.

"The pieces are set, and now it is time for us to begin." Maleficent said. "Before nightfall tonight, Radiant Garden will be mine!"

The witch let out an evil laugh, that shook the decadent castle, as the thunder struck, and the rain outside continued to pour.

* * *

"Roxas…I'm afraid I won't make it…" Sora said, clutching his side, and laying his head back on a nearby wall.

_**'Don't say that, of course you'll make it!'**_ Roxas replied.

"I'm sorry but…it's too much." Sora said, again as he slowly closed his eyes. "I'm really sorry about that time with the ice-cream."

_**'Will you seriously get a grip! It's just been ten minutes of Cid's driving.'**_ Roxas said with a sigh, as he mentally poked Sora to get up.

They had left Twilight Town ten minutes ago in Cid's new gummi ship "Shera". But before completely leaving the world's orbit, Sora decided to eat some of the food that Cid had left for him. After all, now that he though about it , he hadn't eaten in a while, and he was pretty hungry. That was his first mistake. In his hurry, Sora had completely forgotten who their pilot was. As a result Sora was currently in one of the ship's sleeping quarters, trying to the best of his abilities to stop the food from leaving his stomach and 'decorating' Cid's new ship. Between the hunger he had felt and the nausea he was feeling, Sora would take the hunger any day.

"Uhhg. Will someone please just kill me now?" Sora whined.

_**'Just focus on something else, thinking about it only makes it worse.'**_ Roxas said with a sigh. He was starting to lose his patience. Seeing how he spoke to the teen, it would have appeared that he was Sora's older brother rather than his Nobody.

"I can't, the pain is too annoying. It doesn't even let me sleep!" Sora whined, as he brought up his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He then rested his head on his knees and groaned, as the ship shook violently. "Maybe this is his way of getting revenge on me."

_**'Well at least you are still in one piece.'**_ Roxas joked.

Just then, the whole room gave a 360 degree flip, as Sora along with several other objects in the room, were thrown off their positions and crashed (painfully in Sora's case) on the floor. Sora gave a muffled groan and proceeded to peel his face of the floor.

"Yeah, but for how long?" Sora said as he positioned himself cross-legged on the floor.

He brushed off some dirt off his clothes starting from the legs, then moving to the mid and upper sections of his battered body. As soon as he reached his chest and shoulders, he suddenly froze as a look of confusion crept into his face.

_**'Sora, what's wrong?'**_ Roxas asked also confused.

Sora ignored him. Instead, he imitated his motions from earlier. Not satisfied, he started carefully prodding at the areas with the tips of his fingers. Then realization dawned upon him; he couldn't feel it. Panic rapidly took hold of him, as he clumsily got up, nearly falling over with the ship's movements. Roxas was now very worried, and clouded Sora's mind with questions. Sora nearly shouted for him to shut up, but stopped himself from doing so. Instead, he proceeded to rapidly take off his hoodie and T-shirt, almost as if they were on fire.

Once they came off, both Sora and Roxas stood in absolute silence. They had forgotten about Sora's odd wound, mostly because they were more focused on staying alive at the time. And now that Sora thought about it, it did seem odd that most of the wounds he received on his mid and upper chest hadn't bothered him. He had assumed that the near constant flow of adrenaline was to blame, but he couldn't have been more wrong. His chest wasn't painless, it was numb. He couldn't feel the pain, that was true, but he also couldn't feel anything else. Even as he touched the area, the skin underneath his fingers felt strange and foreign to him, as if it wasn't even his. Any pain he had felt before was replaced by emptiness.

The reason for this was obvious. The expanding black wound now covered about half of his body. His lower chest and torso were fully enveloped, and by the looks of it most of his back too. He didn't see his lower body, but since he could still feel the skin there and he didn't particularly feel like pulling his pants down and checking, he assumed he was fine. His shoulders and the area just below the neck were also black, but not entirely. Instead the infected areas looked like fiery black stripes that wrapped around his shoulders, with a few stripes that seemed to be reaching for his neck. Strangely enough he also noticed some strange bluish purple lines that had appeared on his chest, specifically where his heart was. In fact, there were several, which moved away from his heart whilst forming a makeshift circle around it, like the rays of a sun.

After what felt like hours of shocking silence, Sora slowly began to put his discarded clothes back on. His movements seemed almost mechanical, his mind was still getting over the sudden realization. The realization that he didn't have much time left. He was losing a race against time.

_**'Sora…'**_ Roxas wanted to comfort him, but was unable to find the words.

Sora forgot all about his upset stomach, and instead headed out the door and towards the cockpit. He was restless, and the sudden discovery made it impossible for him to sit still, since it felt like he was wasting precious time. And even though going to see Cid would make no difference time wise, it would at least feel like he was doing something.

When he arrived at the cockpit, he found Cid driving the ship whilst shooting (and cursing of course) at the incoming Heartless. According to Cid, there had been a suspiciously large number of Heartless ships lately. The cause for this was yet to be discovered however, giving Sora a deep foreboding feeling.

On the bright side, due to Cid's insanely fast and reckless driving, they had finally reached Radiant Garden. The sight of the old castle and the neighboring town greeted Sora, as he looked outside the ship. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel that something was off about the world. Cid seemed to notice this too. There was simply too much darkness surrounding it. Once they disembarked in town, their fears were confirmed. Not a soul was in sight; the square was empty.

Cid was the first to react. He quickly made his way up the square's steps and past the synthesis shop to get to The Borough. Sora quickly snapped out of his trance and ran after the pilot. If this was indeed caused by a Heartless attack, they needed to get to Merlin's house and contact the others quickly. They didn't see any Heartless in town, but that changed once they entered The Borough. A Soldier Heartless readied a cyclone attack, but before Sora could summon his keyblade, a shuriken made it was swiftly through the air and embedded itself between the Heartless´s yellow glowing eyes, instantly killing it.

"Yuffie!" Sora cried out in surprise as the teenage ninja jumped down from a nearby rooftop.

"Talk about timing." Yuffie commented as she looked at the pair. She couldn't help but notice how awful Sora looked. He looked sick, wounded, and tired all rolled into one.

"What happened?" Cid asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Maleficent attacked, that's what." Yuffie replied. "Thankfully you guys arrived just in time."

"What about the others?" Sora asked.

"Aerith took Pooh´s storybook, and is in the shelter helping the wounded townsfolk, thankfully everyone's ok. The Gullwings are helping here and there. Tifa and Stitch and are fighting in the Restoration Site and the castle, the Heartless situation is under control there. The real problem is in the Ravine Trail and beyond, Leon and Cloud are there now, but there's too many Heartless." Yuffie said before biting her lip and continuing. "We can't send the others there because it would leave the other areas unprotected. I'm in charge of giving out supplies and checking up on everyone since I'm the fastest. I was fighting in the Bailey when I saw the ship, so I came to meet you guys."

"What about the town's defense system?" Cid asked.

"The town's defense system can't beat them. There's just too many heartless and more just keep coming. It's even worse than last time." Yuffie huffed annoyed.

"Well then, I think we should get started." Sora said as a look of determination appeared on his tired face. He could be tired, wounded, and maybe even dying, but he would NEVER allow his friends to get hurt.

_**'That's the spirit.'**_ Roxas said as if proud of Sora.

"Damn right." Cid said. He went inside Merlin's House, and shortly afterwards he came back out holding a long spear in his hand. In all honesty, Cid was worried for Sora, but unfortunately, they had a war on their hands and the pilot had to admit that they needed all the help they could get.

The trio made their way quickly to the Bailey where a group of about fifteen Soldier Heartless awaited them near the metal gate. Yuffie quickly took out her rather large shuriken, while Cid swung his spear to block a cyclone attack. Sora extended his hand to summon the keyblade but failed. He froze, but instead of panicking and bringing any attention to himself from his companions, he shot a blizzard spell from his extended hand. Thankfully nobody noticed his little bluff and when he tried summoning the keyblade a second time, it worked. He was surprised however when instead of having Oathkeeper appear in its radiant white light, he was met with the black smoke and violet sparks of Oblivion.

_**'That's odd.'**_ Roxas commented, perfectly reflecting Sora's own thoughts.

Instead of pondering as to why his Keyblade choice had changed, Sora decided that taking out the Heartless took priority. He could solve the mystery later. Sora quickly slashed through two Heartless, as he caught a sight of Cid leaping high into the air, with an agility he thought impossible for the smoker. Seconds later the pilot plunged down swiftly, impaling three Soldiers at once. Once the first wave of Heartless was defeated, the group moved on only to see another wave coming up the long steps below them. Cid cursed loudly and wiped some sweat off his brow. At this rate, they would never reach the others.

"You two, I'll take care of things here. Y´all just go on ahead and get to the others." Cid told the teens.

"But Cid." Sora said. He didn't feel too well about leaving his friend behind.

"These guys ain´t nothin. Now scram." Cid said in his usual tough voice, as he turned to give his back to Sora and face the Heartless that were approaching rapidly up the steps.

"…Ok." Sora said quietly as he nodded and prepared himself to leave.

"Oh, and Sora." Cid said, his back still turned. Sora looked at the older man in curiosity. "Make sure to get yer sorry hide back here, I ain´t done with you yet."

Soar couldn't help but smile warmly at the comment. If anything he knew that it was Cid's own way of showing his concern for him. With Oblivion in his hand, he leaped off the ledge that had been blown off months ago during the attack on Hollow Bastion. He zoomed down past the infested staircase and landed in a crouch. He then ran quickly with Yuffie appearing at his side, cutting every Heartless in his path.

The adrenaline rushed through his veins, numbing his body from the pain, as he expertly swung his blade at several Shadows. He had decided against dismissing the Keyblade, since he didn't know if he would have problems summoning it again. Not that he had the chance, based on the sheer number of Heartless.

Sora and Yuffie arrived at an open area, adorned by several fallen pillars and a mosaic decorated floor. Sora recognized the place as the battlefield in his fight with Demyx. Yet instead of having the Melodious Nocturne as an opponent, they were met with about thirty or more Heartless. The group was made up of Shadows, Neoshadows, Soldiers, Armored Knights, Bookmasters, and Surveillance Robots.

Sora gritted his teeth and muttered under his breath. "Just my luck."

With a deep breath, he lunged forward and took out the Bookmasters first before they even had the chance to start casting spells. He saw a Morning Star jump towards him, but was quickly able to block him with Oblivion´s shaft. A Neoshadow leaped at Sora, seeing its opportunity to attack, but thankfully Yuffie came to his rescue by hitting it between the eyes with her weapon. Sora swung his blade, throwing the Morning Star in the direction of the other impact destroyed several Armored Knights at once. Sora then turned to see a Surveillance Robot light up, this was his chance. He quickly ran past Yuffie who was taking care of some Soldiers, and grabbed the Heartless with help of Oblivion just as a massive ray was unleashed.

"YUFFIE LOOK OUT!" Sora yelled, as he moved the beam in a circular motion.

Yuffie quickly did a back flip, dodging the ray, but the remaining Heartless weren't so lucky. The intense blast left them as a mass of black smoke and disappearing hearts. With the rest of the Heartless gone, Sora quickly disposed of the one he had used as a weapon. He fell on his knees panting, as a final pink heart floated away and disappeared.

"Sora, are you ok?" Yuffie asked as she approached him.

"Yeah don't worry, it's nothing." Sora said as he got up and gave a fake smile.

Suddenly a loud explosion shook the earth. Both teens were taken by surprise, and fell down with the sudden shockwave. Soon enough they looked up to see smoke rising. Sora looked at the direction of the explosion and realized that it was coming from the Restoration Site, near the Castle Postern. He quickly looked at Yuffie, who looked at him with the same expression.

"I'll go." Yuffie quickly said. They both knew that Tifa and Stitch were supposed to have things under control, so the explosion was probably a very bad sign. They also knew that Ansem's study, as well as his computer, were in that area. They simply couldn´t afford to lose either to the Heartless.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Sora asked. He wasn't doing peachy himself, but he had always worried about the well-being of others before his own. It was simply part of his nature.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fast and I'm loaded with potions. Besides, someone still needs to get to Leon and Cloud." Yuffie replied.

"Ok then…" Sora said nodding. He knew very well that Yuffie was right. She was the fastest and would probably have no problem reaching the others, then healing them with the potions.

Yuffie waved at him goodbye and left in a poof of smoke. Sora decided that he should move on, and began running towards the trail. Sora didn´t even take three steps when a large jolt of pain shook his body. Sora let out a pained cry and fell to his knees while clutching his heart. The pain was intense, and felt like it wanted to tear his heart apart. It was the same pain that made him loose control of the ship and crash into The World That Never Was.

Soon enough the pain began to ebb away. Sora tried to get to his feet. He was panting, and struggling to keep his balance. His eyes seemed to have problems focusing, his muscles ached, and he had broken into a cold sweat, but otherwise, he was fine. Or at least that was what he was trying to convince himself. Sora wiped his brow with a gloved hand, and after composing himself, he continued running towards his destination.

Little did he know that he was being watched.

* * *

"Well that's interesting." Said a figure smugly, with a voice as cold as ice. It had been watching the whole ordeal from the top of a nearby cliff. "Hmm, lets see how this plays out."

And with a sound reminiscent of the beating of wings the figure was gone.

* * *

After what was probably one of the most frustrating trips of their young lives, Riku and Kairi had finally made it to Radiant Garden. Both teens, as well as the gang from Disney Castle, were relieved and excited. They were glad the trip was over and excited to see Sora. Even though there was no direct evidence that Sora was there, they could all feel his presence like a strong pull.

Their excitement was replaced by confusion once they landed the gummi ship and disembarked. The town was completely empty, more importantly, they could also see a large trail of smoke rising from the distance, no doubt caused by an explosion of some sort. Their fears were finally confirmed when they saw some of the Claymores move quickly past them. The town's defense system was activated, which meant that they just landed in the middle of a battlefield.

"Come on everyone!" Said King Mickey, as he began running towards the Bailey.

"Your majesty!" Donald squawked.

"Gawrsh, we gotta find Leon and the others." Goofy said.

"Right." Riku and Kairi said nodding. Although Riku wasn't personally familiar with the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, he knew enough about them from the stories that Sora and Kairi told him. To him they seemed nice enough, if not a bit eccentric.

Soon, the group made it to Merlin´s house, but once they discovered that it was empty, they were taken by surprise by a loud explosion. They followed the sound up several stairs that led to the Bailey. There, they found a very tired looking Cid fighting off a large group of Heartless. The group quickly got into position; King Mickey summoned his Dark Realm Keyblade, Riku summoned his own Keyblade, Way to the Dawn, Kairi summoned her own weapon, while Donald took out his staff, and Goofy his shield. Spells flew, and the sound of clashing metal filled the air, and soon enough, there were no Heartless left.

"Cid, are you alright?" The King asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's gonna take A LOT more to get rid of me, that's for sure." Cid said tried to catch his breath.

"What happened?" Goofy asked.

"That old hag Maleficent is up to her old tricks again." Cid said. "We were hoping to get some help. But I sure am surprised to see you guys here. Especially you Kairi, it's been a while. And if you're here then that there must be Riku, correct?"

Riku nodded. "Nice to meet you."

"It's great to see you again, but truth be told, we came here looking for Sora. Have you seen him?" Kairi asked hopeful.

"Yeah, he went on ahead to meet up with Cloud and Leon." Cid said. "But there's somethin you should know first."

"What do you mean?" Riku asked. He was very perceptive when it came to reading people. As a result, he didn't failed to notice the concern etched in Cid´s features. _' Whatever it is, must be very serious.' _He concluded.

"I'll tell you on the way." Cid said, in a serious tone.

That being said, the group made their way down the stairs through the now heartless-free area. Kairi walked with her eyes downcast and both her hands fidgeting nervously. Riku took one of her hands reassuringly after he realized that she was visibly trembling. Riku's other hand was clenched in a fist so tight that his knuckles had turned white. They could both feel it in the air, much like the calm before a storm: Something was terribly wrong.

* * *

Cloud was completely immersed in the fight. He had reached the point where his mind was in a trance like state, and his body moved on its own accord. It was as if all his moves had been practiced beforehand like some intricate dance for an invisible audience. He swung his massive heavily wrapped blade with a speed and grace that seemed impossible. Each time he would hit his target and move on, there was no room for mistakes, just as there was no time to get tired. It was a deadly dance, where the battlefield was his stage, the sound of metal clashing was his music, and he was the lead performer.

Suddenly the 'music' stopped and Cloud was snapped out of his trance. The row of Armored Knights in front of him were about to attack, when suddenly, in a flash of light and the swooshing sound of a blade, they were instantly defeated. Anyone would have stopped and looked at the scene in amazement but Cloud knew better. He recognized that sound anywhere. He quickly took a defensive position, and just in time too. Almost instantly, several invisible slashes were blocked by his massive sword. Several pieces of cut bandages fell off.

"Well looks like someone has been practicing." Said a figure that seemed to have materialized behind the blonde.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud snarled, turning around to face his sworn enemy.

There he stood, indifferent to the masses of approaching Heartless. He had long silvery hair, pale skin, and green cat-like eyes, which, much like cats, had a look of arrogance, and utter disdain. He wore a long black trench coat, that left his chest partially exposed, shoulder guards, long boots, black pants, and an iconic bluish black feathered wing on his right shoulder and another two at either side of his hips under the coat.

"Nice to see you again, Cloud." Sephiroth said in a cold voice.

"What do you want?" Cloud snarled threateningly.

"What I want Cloud, is to let you in on something interesting." Sephiroth said while an evil smirk graced his features.

"And what would that be?" Cloud said, not letting his guard down for one second.

"That friend of yours, the Keyblade wielder. He is dangerously close to the darkness. I just thought I would let you know." Sephiroth replied slowly, a small smile on his face like that of a cat toying with a mouse. "He is on his way right now and we wouldn't want anything to happen to him, now would we?"

Cloud opened his mouth to ask what the one winged being meant, but Sephiroth had already disappeared in a swirl of black feathers. Cloud swore, as more Heartless started to approach. He swung his sword, readying himself for the fight but his thoughts were elsewhere.

_'What did he mean by that?' _Cloud wondered.

* * *

Leon wiped the sweat off his brow, as he panted for breath. His muscles were tense and protested his every movement. He would no doubt feel it in the morning. He had been fighting for hours and still the Heartless continued to pour in, giving him little to no time to recover. This was their true power. Alone, Heartless were not all that hard to defeat, they were dangerous opponents, not difficult ones. But together, Heartless could easily destroy a world. This fight wasn't about strength, it was about endurance.

_'That´s odd, the clouds are stirring. A storm maybe?'_ Leon thought to himself and he lowered his weapon, resting the tip of the sword on the ground.

His train of thought was suddenly stopped by a sound he had become familiar with the years; Heartless. Several of them and approaching fast. Leon quickly brought up his gunblade as he braced himself for what was to come. Soon, Heartless began swarming from every corner of the ravine. Leon cursed. There were so many of them. Just where were they coming from?

_'I guess that's what I get for spacing out on the weather.'_ He thought bitterly.

In a matter of seconds Leon found himself completely surrounded. And once the first heartless began attacking, all the rest followed. The swordsman quickly sliced a leaping Neoshadow, and then turned around and threw a fireball at a Soldier that had attempted to hit him from behind. A bright bolt of light followed by a sharp jolt of pain made him wince. He gritted his teeth and attempted to ignore the pain. He looked around and attempted to find the source, of what he realized was a thunder spell. On his far left was a Bookmaster. Leon groaned, he hated those.

The brunette tried to force his way over before the Bookmaster had the chance to cast again, but he was so focused on the spell casting Heartless that he failed to notice in time a sneak attack from a Neoshadow directly under him. The attack made him stumble, giving every other monster the opportunity to strike. In seconds, Leon found himself being ganged upon by several heartless while a few others formed a pile on top of him to keep him from moving. He furiously struggled to break free but with no success, he couldn't even cast in this state.

The Heartless continued to deliver blow after blow without mercy. Leon knew that at this rate he wouldn't make it. Even now, he was struggling to remain conscious. His vision started blurring before slowly being enveloped by darkness. But before the darkness had the chance to take over, he heard hurried footsteps and a loud shout.

* * *

Sora arrived just in time to find a battered Leon under a pile of about twenty Heartless that were either beating him up or pinning him down. Sora called his name but the older brunette seemed unresponsive. Instead, Sora quickly charged a strong blizzard spell towards the heartless, and once frozen, he swung Oblivion at them, shattering them in the process. Then, Sora knelt next to his fallen comrade and cast Cure. The older brunette stirred, and then slowly opened his eyes.

"Sora?" Leon asked. He had to admit, he was both relieved and surprised. Surprised mostly because of the teen's appearance. He was sure he had never seen Sora in such a bad condition as he was now. Though he probably wasn't in the position to talk. _'I must look pretty awful right now.'_

Leon slowly got up. He was still feeling tired, but the Cure spell had thankfully taken care of his injuries. This wasn't the time to celebrate, however. Several Heartless had all ready prepared their attacks, and oddly enough, they were all targeting Sora. But before any of them could unleash their attacks, Sora had already jumped into action. He attacked relentlessly, not allowing any Heartless to escape his anger. He was perfectly aware that they were just mindlessly collecting hearts, but that didn't change the fact that they had hurt his friend. To him that was unforgivable.

In a couple of minutes, Sora and Leon defeated the Heartless. Leon was surprised by the fierceness in the younger brunette's attacks. If anything, it was disquieting. Sora had always reminded Leon of a bright star. He was always bright and cheerful, sharing the mood with anyone that came into contact. In troubled times he shone brightly, like a beacon of hope. In battle, he shone ever brighter, giving his all for his loved ones. But as the saying said, the star that shines twice as bright, only shines for half as long. And just as he witnessed, Sora was shining particularly bright at the moment.

_'No!'_ Leon thought, stopping his train of thought. Sora wasn't going to die! Sure there had been close calls, but the boy always made it through in the end. He – no – _everyone_ would make sure of that.

Both brunettes quickly made their way to Crystal Fissure with Sora in the lead. By going through the small cave-like fissure, they could make it to the large area where the Thousand Heartless battle took place. Hopefully Cloud would be there.

Neither Sora nor Leon spoke on their way. Sora was too caught up on his own thoughts to notice the older male eyeing him warily. Leon could tell that Sora was tired. There were small beads of sweat making their way down the sides of his face. His messy brown spikes of hair, that would usually stand proud, seemed to falter, no doubt because his hair was slightly damp with sweat. Moreover, Leon noticed his ragged breaths for air, each short and uneven. This told him Sora had trouble breathing and was probably in pain. Though the latter was probably a very obvious conclusion, based on the fact that Sora was covered in cuts and bruises.

They were near the tunnel's exit when Leon caught a sight of something that made his blood run cold. At the base of Sora's collar, there was black marking, similar in shape to a long flame, that was snaking its way up the side of his neck. The marking was way too dark to be a bruise, not to mention it seemed to be spreading. Just what hell was it? Leon was about to shout for Sora to stop, but the teen had already exited the fissure, oblivious to what had just happened.

* * *

Cloud was currently surrounded by a large mass of Heartless. In fact, all he could see around him was black and yellow, with exception to the blue rocky walls of the canyon, the entrance to Crystal Fissure in front of him, and exit to Dark Depths behind him. Somehow, the canyon was able to hold even more Heartless than last time.

The Heartless hesitated to attack and simply surrounded Cloud, leaving a couple of meters of distance between them. Occasionally, one would be brave (or foolish) enough to attack, some of the others following its lead. But after they were defeated, the rest of the monsters would hesitate. As much as they wanted hearts, Heartless also had the instinct of self preservation. They knew they were no match for the blonde swordsman.

But Cloud knew he couldn't keep this up forever. Even he had to admit that he was getting tired, and if all the Heartless decided to attack him at once, even he might not make it in one piece. At the same time, he couldn't simply relax and drop his guard, it would be like an open invitation for them to attack him. In fact, he was almost sure that the Heartless were purposely trying to tire him out.

_'Dammit!'_ Cloud mentally swore. He couldn't stay like this forever! His only real option was to act soon, and if things got too bad, just make a run for it and regroup with the others. As much as that would hurt his pride, he would at least live to see another day.

Cloud was about to carry out his plan, when he noticed the Heartless stir. They all turned to face the entrance towards Crystal Fissure, as if expecting something to happen. They were right. In the distance, the sound of running footsteps echoed from the tunnel and soon enough, the familiar figure of Sora burst forth, Oblivion in hand. Quickly following after him was a distraught Leon, that seemed to be trying to make the younger brunette stop.

The reaction from the Heartless was instantaneous. They all seemed to forget about the blonde swordsman and swarmed straight towards the boy. The boy on the other hand, didn't seem all that surprised, and quickly went into battle mode. Cloud went forward to help but when he got near enough, his eyes widened in shock. To say that the boy looked awful was an understatement. He looked like he had just fallen out of the skies, only to be mauled by a pack of Behemoths. Yet, the most disturbing things were the pitch-black markings that had appeared on Sora's body. There were some at each side of Sora's neck, while some were wrapping down his arms. Now there were also small stripes spreading slowly on his face, on his cheeks just below each eye, before coming to a stop about halfway to the nose.

Suddenly, Sephiroth´s warning became all too clear. He could feel the darkness inside Sora. Yet, it was unlike the darkness he himself had once fallen victim to. This darkness was…malevolent. It was a common misconception that light was 'good' while darkness was 'bad'. Light and darkness do exist as opposing powers, but whether they are good or bad depends solely on the person wielding them and their intentions. But if this was true, then why did this darkness feel so…evil?

"SORA!" Cloud yelled. He realized that he had to act quick, or otherwise it would be too late. The darkness was pulsating dangerously, almost like a bomb threatening to detonate at any given second.

Sora quickly killed a Neoshadow and then turned to the person who had called his name. Noticing Cloud's alarmed look, Sora cocked his head in confusion. He was obviously ignorant to what was happening. Behind him, Leon tried to catch up, despite looking like he would collapse any minute.

Cloud ran towards Sora, shouting for him to stop. Suddenly, his reflexes kicked in making him jump backwards, as a wall of emerald green flames erupted in front of him, preventing him from getting to the teen. The same seemed to have happened to Leon at the other end of the area. The two walls of flames trapped Sora, as more and more Heartless swarmed to overwhelm the Keyblade Master. Cloud was about to strike at the magical wall, when a ball of green fire zoomed towards him, forcing him to dodge.

"We can't have you spoiling the fun, now can we?" Maleficent said, as both her and Pete appeared in a flash of green flames, on top of a cliff.

Cloud turned around to scowl at the witch. He honestly didn't care what the evil hag had to say. Cloud readied himself one more time, this time three fireballs were launched at him. Instead of dodging, he stood his ground and blocked them with him blade. Immediately after that, Cloud brought his sword down, and used blade beam. A blue beam of energy was unleashed, and struck the green flames. The flames were temporarily diminished, giving Cloud enough time to cross over and join Sora in his fight.

"Why you little…! Heartless, after him!" Maleficent yelled in indignation. Despite her commands, the Heartless refused to budge, and instead continued going after Sora.

"What's happening? Why aren't they listening?!" Pete said, panic evident in his voice.

Cloud looked up to see Maleficent, and witnessed a mixture of emotions cross her features. She was looking at the scene before her with anger and confusion, and then turned to look at the skies and the mass of black storm clouds that had appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Suddenly, realization and understanding appeared on her face. She turned to look at Sora who was desperately trying to fend off the Heartless. Suddenly, she did something that made the very hairs on the back of his neck stand on their ends; she smiled.

Cloud quickly looked at the young teen, to see what would evoke such a reaction from Maleficent. There were so many Heartless between the two that, had it not been for Cloud's enhanced senses, he would not have been able to see it. Sora was tired, the stripes beneath his eyes now had a definite tribal-like pattern. His movements had become sluggish, his arms were shaking slightly, and his eyes were glazed over. He would blink occasionally, as if he had trouble focusing on a target.

Cloud cursed, Sora looked like he would fall over unconscious any second. The blonde slashed at the Heartless in front of him to clear a path. He killed about five or six with each swipe, mostly because they were so preoccupied with Sora that they didn't even seem to notice he was there. Despite that, more came flooding in and Cloud's attempts to reach Sora proved to be futile. He could always try using his stronger attacks but he was sure that if the Heartless didn't kill Sora, then his attacks would. He looked past the flaming wall and saw that Leon wasn't doing any better. He was helping in the side lines by attacking all the Heartless within range, but that was all he _could_ do.

Sora continued fighting nonstop. If this were a normal fight he would've fled, but unfortunately, he was completely surrounded. Even if he somehow managed to escape, in his state he wouldn't get very far. After all, he was feeling awful; he was cold, even though his lungs were on fire, his arms were trembling, making it harder to fight, he was damp with sweat, his vision was blurring, and his entire body felt numb as if he was under the effects of anesthesia.

_'What did I get myself into?'_ Sora thought ruefully.

_**'Sora!…Hang in there Sora!'**_ Roxas shouted as loud as he could.

There was a voice calling out to him, but he couldn't make out what it said. The same happened to his surroundings; the flickering of flames, the clashing of steel, the pounding of footsteps, the hissing of Heartless, even the cries of his companions. And soon, everything was replaced by silence. It was as if the world itself had stopped. Slowly, he could feel the darkness overtaking his vision, his muscles losing strength, and his body falling forward.

"I´m…sorry…everyone." Sora whispered softly, before darkness overtook him.

Cloud was still trying to clear a path, when he saw the flash of lightning followed by the loud booming of thunder. Being somewhat startled, he looked around, and what he saw made a chill go down his spine. Sora had just fallen forward with an almost inaudible 'thud', several Heartless were now forming a pile over his unconscious body.

"SORA!" Cloud shouted loudly, ignoring the droplets of rain that were starting to fall.

Leon instantly looked past the green flames, as his eyes widened in shock.

"No!" He yelled. It just couldn't be.

"Now nothing will stand in my way to power!" Maleficent declared victoriously before unleashing a wicked laugh. The loud crashing of thunder only made her look more evil.

Cloud growled angrily, grasping his sword so firmly that his knuckles turned white. He glared at the Heartless that had formed a pile over Sora and raised his sword. He hated doing this, but if it gave them at least a chance for Sora to survive, then it was their only choice. He readied the attack, but before he had the chance to unleash it, a large dark blast erupted in the area, the center being the pile of Heartless. All monsters within the radius were instantly killed, even Cloud was nearly blown back from the impact. Something flew past him, smashing into the cliff side, but he couldn't properly see what it was. The blast also managed to knock several Heartless back, making Cloud think it was perhaps a particularly unlucky monster.

Cloud narrowed his eyes, hoping to see through the thick black smoke, created from the Heartless remnants. To his surprise, the flaming wall was completely gone. But that wasn't what worried him. In the center of the blast was a crouched figure, he couldn't tell exactly who or what it was, all he knew was that it was black, flaming, and just felt wrong. There were no words to describe it. Just looking at 'it' made him feel a surge of negative emotions course through him, more intense than any Heartless he had felt before.

Suddenly, the winds seemed to pick up through the thunder and rain. The thunder continued striking, as the wind began blowing wildly around the figure, whipping Cloud's blonde hair around, as well as his clothes. It created a vortex around the figure, causing the black fire enveloping it to increase in size despite the falling rain.

Cloud spared a sideways glance at Leon who appeared knocked out from the explosion. He found himself unconsciously gripping his sword harder. The small voice in the back of his head was screaming at the top of its lungs, warning him of impending danger. As if on cue, there was a loud snapping sound. The figure amidst the dark whirlwind opened its eerie yellow glowing eyes, arched its back, letting out a horrifying bloodcurdling roar.

In another flash of lightning, the figure was gone, disrupting the wind vortex and making powerful gusts of wind blow in every direction. Cloud shielded his eyes from the strong wind, but quickly brought up his sword when he sensed an incoming attack. He felt a strong force clash against his sword, along with the distinctive sound of clashing metal. Once the gale was over, he finally got a good look at his attacker; the black figure.

"SORA?!" Cloud said in alarm. The creature definitely had Sora's likeness, albeit black, wispy, and with several Heartless features, like yellow glowing eyes, a jagged mouth, and long slender claws. But it wasn't the appearance that gave him away. In his heart, Cloud just knew this was Sora.

Sore replied by giving a low hissing sound and opening his fanged mouth threateningly. He then moved so fast behind the blonde that the latter barely had anytime to block. Sora continued to fiercely strike against the massive sword again and again, making sparks fly each time claws hit metal. Cloud was still recovering from the shock and confusion of what had just happened. He continued guarding against every attack berserker Sora threw, unsure of how exactly to respond. Was he really a Heartless? He didn't see him lose his Heart, but then again, he couldn't be sure. Why did he feel different from a Heartless? If he was a Heartless, should he attack back? Could he attack the boy he had come to see as a friend and ally?

"Why do you hesitate?" Maleficent asked mockingly. "The Keyblade Master has fallen, his heart has been poisoned by darkness. You can't save him either way, he belongs to me now."

"Here that? There ain´t nothin you can do about it, so just get out of our way, see." Pete added.

Cloud growled at the pair. He couldn't attack them however, because he was still blocking his constant blows.

"Now Heartless, come to me and serve your new mistress!" Maleficent said, while raising both her arms for effect.

Sora seemed to hear the voice and instinctively turned to face the source. He faced Maleficent on all fours, but rather than following, he growled and hissed defiantly, while arching his back like an angry cat.

"How dare you!" Maleficent yelled angrily for his lack of obedience. "Heartless, attack!"

Immediately, five Neoshadows and two Wyverns appeared surrounding the fallen Keyblade Master. The Neoshadows prepared their attacks, but Sora was too fast for them. Even Cloud had to admit that he had trouble keeping track of his movements. In the blink of an eye, two Neoshadows were easily disposed of, a third was critically wounded. The Wyverns dived from the air towards their target, but Sora leapt towards one, sinking his claws in it, killing it and then used it as leverage to jump towards a Neoshadow. Once killing it, he faced the other Wyvern who was preparing to dive. Instead of pouncing at it, he jumped, landing on its back, then jumped again high in the air. He turned around and faced the area that included the Heartless and the cliff, and then he spread his arms in front of him, gathering a large amount of black energy and then shot it. The whole area he had faced erupted in a large explosion, while Sora landed softly in a crouch, rain still pouring down on him. The smoke dispersed, revealing a very tired and beaten Maleficent and a very unconscious Pete.

"I may have lost this battle, but this has yet to be the last you will see of me. Maybe not tomorrow or after, but I will come back yet again, and when I do, I shall rule all!" Maleficent spat angrily, before she and Pete disappeared in a flurry of green flames.

Cloud slowly got up to his feet. He had to quickly dodge away from the blast and even then he was blown back because of its power. He had little time to recover however, because next thing he knew, a large force collided against chest, knocking the wind out of him, then pushing him against a cliff wall. He opened his eyes to see Sora in front of him, he had just tackled him and, was now harshly pinning him by his right shoulder and left arm. His hold was so firm that the claws were digging painfully into the skin, drawing blood, and shredding the fabric of his clothes. Sora raised his right hand, releasing Cloud's left arm, and prepared a hit, aimed straight towards the blonde's heart. Cloud saw this, but he was still recovering from the last hit, even if he moved his bleeding left arm to defend himself, the hit would be too fast and he wouldn't be able to make it in time.

Cloud watched Sora move his clawed hand towards his heart as if in slow motion. But before the hit could connect, a fireball hit Sora from behind. Instead of suffering from a mortal blow, Sora's claws on managed to scratch him across the chest. It was painful, but he would live. Sora hissed before turning around and meeting Leon's tired gaze. He had apparently woken up just in time to hear Maleficent and understand what was going on. He held his gunblade in front him, ready for a fight. He knew Sora wasn't doing this on purpose, but he also knew that in this state, he was just as dangerous as he was powerful.

Sora quickly lurched at him, claws ready to tear. Leon managed to block his strike and throw him backwards. Sora landed on all fours and leaped again, frantically trying to claw at him. The swordsman managed to luckily block all hits, and then hit Sora with another fireball, throwing him back a few feet. Sora landed flawlessly again, and ran at him. Leon assumed he was going to leap at him again so he blocked, but to his surprise, Sora vanished, only to reappear right behind him. Leon's eyes widened; it was too late to block. And sure enough Sora brought his claws down and in a swipe, tearing clothes and skin alike. Leon fell on the floor in pain, the fabric on his back tainted red. But before Sora could move in for the kill, Cloud managed to get next to Leon and perform a cross-slash, hitting Sora and hurdling him back against the canyon's wall. Sora hissed angrily, turned towards the wall, and ran up along it, jumping at the end, facing the two swordsmen and gathering more black energy.

"Shit!" Cloud cursed as he realized what would be unleashed upon them.

Cloud braced himself for what was to come, but before it got a chance to hit, he saw a flash of white and black, and found himself in a familiar barrier of light along with a fallen Leon next to him. Just then, he took notice of the one who cast reflect and his eyes widened in shock. It was a blonde teen, that looked about the same age as Sora. The teen was giving his back to him so he couldn't see his face but that wasn't what shocked him. The teen was transparent, like a ghost and in each hand he held a Keyblade, Oblivion in his right and Oathkeeper in his left.

"**You guys alright?" **The teen said, as he turned to face them.

Cloud froze, something that seemed to be happening a lot to him lately. He just couldn't believe what he was seeing. One look at the transparent boy's face and he immediately recognized it as Sora´s. Although the teen´s hair, skin tone and clothes were different, everything else was _exactly_ like Sora. It just wasn't possible. Who was this guy?

"Who are you?" Cloud asked a bit more harshly than he had originally intended.

**"There's no time, I'll explain later!"** The teen said, before running off to confront Sora.

Cloud checked Leon's condition and to his relief he was only unconscious. He picked up the brunette, doing his best to avoid worsening the injuries, and took him as far away from the fight as he could. Looking down at his battered and bloody body, he had to recognize that he was pretty injured too, the only real difference was that he was conscious. He looked back at where the two teens fought, and found himself entranced by their fight. It was as if the knew each other's moves before they even took place. It also reminded him of Yin and Yang symbol; two opposing forces of equal strength. The teen's mostly light colored clothing contrasting to the darkness covering Sora, as well as the physical similarities between the two, only made the similarities to the symbol greater.

The fight seemed to drag on for an eternity. Neither Sora nor the mysterious blonde seemed to be able to get the upper hand. When the fight seemed to turn in favor of one of them, the other would do something to set the balance straight again. That is, until Roxas failed to block one of the hits and the fallen Keyblade Master slashed at his side. Taking full advantage that his opponent was down Sora pounced, slashing twice. One hit scratched the blonde in the left arm, while another down his right leg, effectively immobilizing him. The blonde summoned Oathkeeper in the hand of his uninjured arm and brought it in front of him in defense, while Sora closed in on him, baring his sharp fangs.

He was just about to strike, when running footsteps and shouts interrupted him.

* * *

Riku, Kairi, Cid, Donald, Goofy and King Mickey ran full speed through the ravine. If what Cid told them was true, then they had to reach Sora as soon as possible. They were joined by the missing HBRC members, when they realized that all the Heartless had stopped attacking and instead, swarmed towards the area where Cloud, Leon and Sora were. Aerith left the townsfolk, and caught up with them. She had an extremely bad feeling and decided to come in case someone needed healing. Yuffie and Tifa also left Stitch behind to guard the area, while they met up with the group.

Although there were no Heartless on their path, the group still felt weary. There was this dreadful feeling in the air. The thundering black clouds and the rain constantly pelting down on them only served as omens for what was to come. After several large explosions, they quickened their pace to reach their destination.

They ran quickly through the crystallized tunnel undeterred. Once outside, they were met by the rain and a sight that left them utterly shocked. Cloud stood only a few meters away next to the cliff, leaning his back heavily against it, mostly because it looked like he would fall otherwise. He was clearly wounded, since blood ran down his arms and stained his clothes, as well as the ground and even the bandages on his sword, which were now torn. Leon was now unconscious on the ground facedown, a pool of blood underneath him. The back of his jacket was tainted red masking the original design of red wings. Moreover it had four long gashes across the back, that had torn right through the jacket and shirt underneath, revealing a heavily bleeding scratch.

Yet the most shocking thing was the battle that took place in the middle of the Canyon. There were two individuals, one completely covered in darkness, resembling a Heartless, while the other was a transparent blonde teen in light colored clothing, that was now injured on the ground. Kairi gasped, as Riku paled. They both recognized the black figure immediately; it was Sora. He was currently trying to kill Roxas and their group arrived just in time to see the finishing blow.

"SORA!" Kairi and Riku shouted as they ran towards the fallen Keyblade Master.

Sora stopped his attack to look at those who had interrupted him. Upon seeing Kairi, he let out a feral growl and ran at her on all fours. Kairi stopped in her tracks, eyes wide, as Sora leaped towards her. Riku quickly ran in front of Kairi and blocked the blow with Way to the Dawn.

"Stop it! What's wrong with you?" Riku yelled as he swung his blade, making Sora jump backwards and land in a crouch.

"Riku, he doesn't understand what you are saying, he doesn't even know what is going on." The King said seriously, with a hint of sadness.

"What do you mean?!" Riku asked as he blocked another hit from Sora.

"You have to listen to me, Sora has fallen into darkness. In this state he could kill all of you and yet have no idea what he was doing." Mickey said.

"But he isn't a Heartless!" Kairi snapped. "He may look like one but his heart is still in there, I can feel it!"

"I never said that Sora was a Heartless, but right now he is very close to being one." King Mickey took another deep breath. "I can't say for sure, but I think the darkness inside of him poisoned and corrupted him to the point it took complete control. You could say he is being possessed by darkness."

"Gawrsh, then what are we gonna do?!" Goofy said, hugging his shield closer to him.

"Yeah, we can´t just abandon him!" Donald squawked.

King Mickey shook his head. "I really don't know. There isn't any guarantee that there even is a way to save Sora."

"Well I'm going to try!" Kairi said before running towards where Riku and Sora were fighting. The Disney trio followed after her, while the others stayed behind to heal Cloud and Leon.

"Kairi! What are you doing!? Get back!" Riku shouted at the approaching Kairi. Sora used his distraction as an opportunity to slash Riku in the side, who knelt over while clutching the wound.

"Riku!" Kairi shouted worried. "Sora, come on! Snap out of it!"

Sora seemed to hesitate for a moment. He gave a violent twitch followed by a seething growl, then turned to face her, yellow eyes glowing brightly. Sora crouched down, preparing to pounce but before he had the chance, he was truck by a beam of light.

"Oh no you don't!" Roxas spat, slowly rising to his feet with Oathkeeper pointing at Sora.

Sora hissed angrily at the light and retaliated with a pounce. This time his hit was blocked by King Mickey, whom he tried to attack, only to be shocked by a thunder spell from Donald and shoved backwards by a hit from Goofy.

"Sora, you gotta get control!" King Mickey said as Sora recovered from the hit.

"Come on Sora!" Goofy said.

"You can do it Sora!" Donald squawked.

"He's right, you're stronger than that Sora!" Riku said, as he once again got to his feet, despite the now bleeding injury.

Kairi saw Sora stand there looking at them. She approached him slowly but surely, while searching for something in her pockets. After finding it, she gave a bittersweet smile and extended it to Sora; it was her lucky charm.

"Sora, please. I don't want to lose you again." Kairi said softly as she moved in to hug him, a tear rolled down her cheek.

* * *

Sora stood in a black misty place. His eyes were half closed and held naught but a vacant expression. He had no idea where he was, but it wasn't like he cared. He barely held any awareness as it was. It was like his mind was asleep. In a way, this was nothing like dreaming. When he dreamt he could see, hear or feel all sorts of things even if they didn't make much sense. Here however, there was nothing but an endless void of nothing.

Yet slowly, the world around him changed as Sora 'woke up'. He slowly became more and more aware of his shifting surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the voices. Although he couldn't make out what they said, he was sure they were calling for him, as if waking him from the void filled dream. The mist dispersed and his surroundings cleared, revealing a bleak world of twisting shadows. Sora knew this place and yet he couldn't remember from where, or why it made him feel afraid.

A small voice in Sora's hazy head, joined the others and began calling him. The voices became louder and more clear, as six large shadows surrounded him. He could only stand there and look in morbid fascination. Soon one of the figures approached him and reached for him. He didn't know what to do as the darkness approached, but he was surprised when a strong light erupted from it. He looked down at himself and noticed another light erupt from his own chest as if responding to the first. The light then grew and seemed to drive the shadows away, revealing a world of colors, unlike the one from before. The figures in front of him turned into people, whose faces he could not see, yet they were familiar, one of them was even embracing him. Although the light couldn't completely vanquish the shadows, it did rid him of the haze inside his mind, making memories rapidly start to play before his eyes. Soon, a full realization hit him.

* * *

The whole group was shocked when Kairi hugged Sora and even more when he didn't attack her. Instead, he jumped back and stared with wide glowing eyes and a slack jaw.

"Ka-Kairi." Sora stuttered through jagged fangs. His voice sounded hoarse and hiss-like, but everybody understood him. He spotted the other two teens and then looked down at their wounds. "Ri-Riku, Roxas."

The group was about to approach Sora, when the brunette suddenly clasped his clawed hands on his head, and let out a pained scream that resembled a howl. Sora fell to his knees, crying out in pain, as black flames began emanating from his body.

"What do we do?!" Donald squawked.

"Quick! Aim at Sora with your Keyblades!" King Mickey instructed, as he raised his own blade. The three teens hesitated.

"D-Do it!" Sora hissed, as his claws dug into the ground, from the pain of fighting the darkness.

The teens somberly obeyed, and soon rays of light shot out from the weapons and hit their friend in a blinding flash of light. The force of the hit made Sora fall backwards onto the floor. He looked at his friends once more, with tired yellow eyes that no longer glowed as bright, before looking up at the clearing sky and slowly closing them. His arms and legs fell on the ground limp and the darkness slowly disappeared from his features, revealing the tired and battered body of the boy that was so much like a star.

* * *

**Canis: "So there it is! What do you think?"**

**Crystal: "I hate you so much right now." *glares***

**Canis: "Aww come on it wasn't that bad. You're just grumpy."**

**Crystal: "I am going to go find the bluntest object I can find, carve a comma into it, and beat you senseless with it."**

**Canis: "Yeah but if you did and something unfortunate happened, then who would continue the story?" *smiles slyly***

**Crystal: *groans* "I need a nap."**

**Canis: "Well before we leave, here's a little sneak preview. Don't forget to review!"**

* * *

Beginning´s End:

He was falling deeper and deeper into the abyss. Nothing but darkness surrounded him as he fell, and yet he was not afraid. A voice called to him from the darkness, strange and yet familiar. He remembered hearing it once in a dream. The day of the real start of his journey. Heeding the strange voice, he opened his eyes.

"Where am I?"


	11. Trials and Tribulations

**Hero's Heart Chapter 11: Trials and Tribulations**

**Ok, I know most of you want to kill me right now for disappearing like that. In my defense I did have to finish school, overcome my writers block, move halfway around the world to another country, and manage with just my laptop while my other family members constantly asked me to use it (it was the only one that seemingly worked). My stuff is still on a ship somewhere, and I probably won't get it back until September.**

**Anyways, I'm glad to have gotten this chapter done. It was ridiculously hard to write. You could actually say this is the beginning of a new arc. I should warn you that there is some implied RoxasXNaminé in this chapter. Thanks to everyone who has read this story. Reviewers have my thanks too. Reviews help me keep writing and are a good feedback to improve my writing.**

**I would also like to give a special thanks to kirabook for her fanart. It means a lot since it the first ever fanart dedicated to my work! You can check it out at:**

**http:/ kirabook. deviantart. com /art/ Hero-s-Heart-155644875 (take out the spaces)**

**Oh and from now until further notice:**

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

_**'Nobody Thoughts (Roxas/Naminé)'**_

"**Speech (Roxas/Naminé/ mysterious disembodied voice)"**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Are you happy now copyright?**

**Without further ado, on with the show!**

* * *

All was silent in the house except for the sound of the rain outside crashing against the windows. Yet it wasn't a good or welcome kind of silence. It was one filled with untold emotions, the uncomfortable kind caused when no one dared to say anything, not that they knew what to say anyways. This was the exact case with the odd individuals currently inside Merlin's home.

Cloud looked around the house assessing their current situation. They had survived the Heartless attack, but not without a great loss; it was without a doubt a pyrrhic victory. Sora was currently lying on the bed having his injuries checked out by Aerith. She had already finished with Leon who still hadn't regained consciousness and was now resting on a cot next to the wall. Cid was typing on the computer, while Yuffie and Tifa had reluctantly left to check the town for damages. They were all so tired, evident by the dark bags under their eyes of each HBRC member.

Not that the other individuals in the room were doing better. In fact, you could argue that they were doing much worse, especially Riku and Kairi who looked devastated. It came as no surprise since they were the ones who had grown up and shared so many sweet memories with the Keyblade Master. Both teens, the Disney gang, and the strange see-through blonde were all somberly gathered around the bed, the latter still getting distrustful glares from Cloud's unnaturally glowing eyes. Although he had been assured that the younger blonde was not a threat, they were still waiting for the whole group to be there so the full story could be heard. Until then, Cloud refused to let his guard down. Frankly speaking, the kid's physical resemblance to Sora was disquieting, his ability to wield two Keyblades was shocking, and adding the fact that he was transparent was just plain disturbing. Despite this, the kid didn't look any less depressed than those surrounding him.

Cloud saw Aerith finish up her work on Sora, giving a rather tired sigh as she moved towards him. Cloud looked at her with expectant blue eyes. Understanding his silent question, Aerith slowly shook her head, a downcast look on her face. Cloud understood perfectly what it meant; there was nothing else she could do. Healing magic was very practical and could heal the wounds of the body, but ultimately it couldn't heal the wounds of the heart.

The blonde swordsman cast a glance towards the brunette Keyblade Master. He looked pale and sickly and the black markings on his body had failed to disappear. Had it not been for the weak and almost unnoticeable rising of his chest, one would have thought he was dead. Seeing such a vibrant and cheerful boy in such a fragile state made his heart break. He couldn't help but feel the slightest bit angry towards himself. Maybe if he had just agreed with the others and made Sora stay put, he wouldn't be in this state. He had known that something was up with the brunette, he could have stopped him. He should have done something, anything to stop this from happening. He had once again failed to protect someone precious to him. He was not fit to help anyone.

"Are you ok?" Aerith asked as she handed him a hot cup of tea. "You were injured too right?"

Cloud was brought out of his thoughts and nodded. He tried to remove his top, or more like remains of his top, but winced in pain from his tired and abused muscles. If Leon was in as much pain was he was now, then he was lucky to be unconscious. He didn't even want to imagine how he would feel in the morning. After getting his top off and having Aerith heal the several slashes of varying depths on his body, Tifa and Yuffie reappeared once more through the door.

It took three minutes for both to give in the damage reports, which thankfully reported nothing serious. It took another five for Leon to finally regain consciousness and to be brought up to speed with what was going on. Once everyone was seated and accounted for, several glances were exchanged, as if waiting to see who would start. The transparent blonde shifted in hesitation as all eyes fell on him. Said blonde gave a deep sigh and scrunched his face in thought, struggling to find the right words. Before he could say anything, a loud pop and cloud of smoke appeared in the room. Immediately everyone sprang to action, unsheathing, summoning or grabbing their weapons of choice in preparation to strike the sudden intruder. No one moved from their stance as the atmosphere in the room became so tense it could be cut by the same weapons they wielded. The smoke slowly cleared, revealing the coughing figure of the last person they had expected to see.

"MERLIN?" Everyone cried in unison, or at least everyone that knew the wizard.

"Oh it's great to see you lads!" The old bearded man said, still coughing and waving the smoke away.

"What are you doing here? What happened?" Yuffie asked.

"Well, I was tutoring young Artie when the magical order called for a state of emergency. I went to meet with everyone else to see what it was all about. I've been stuck there ever since. The dangerously high amount of darkness made traveling by magic far too dangerous." Merlin said.

"So you met with Master Yen Sid then?" King Mickey asked.

"That's correct." Merlin said. He then turned his attention to the Keyblade wielding teens. "Ah, hello Kairi. It's been too long since the last time I saw you, you have grown into quite a lady. So I assume you must be the famous Riku I've heard so much about. And you must be Roxas correct, or should I say number XIII?"

Roxas stared wide eyed in shock and nodded, the tension in the room suddenly turning into confusion. The others around him who did not know him looked at him quizzically; some however, were quick to catch on. Roxas continued to look questioningly at the wizard, obviously not expecting him to know who he was.

"**But, how did you-?"** Roxas asked.

The wizard gave him a friendly smile. "That's really not important right now. But I do think we all need a long and serious talk, and of course, several formal introductions. Also if Naminé could come out too, that would be great, if she doesn't mind of course."

"**No, it's okay."** Answered Naminé. She then appeared right beside Kairi in a display of golden light, much to the surprise of everyone around her.

Well then, shall we begin?" Merlin asked.

"Yeah, I think it is time we all knew what is happening." King Mickey said as he turned to look at the comatose figure of Sora.

"**Well, I guess I should start then. You should all get comfortable since it's a bit of a long story."** Roxas said. Once everyone was seated, and all eyes were on him, Roxas began. **"My name is Roxas, I was Organization XIII's thirteenth member; 'The Key of Destiny'. I am Sora's nobody."**

* * *

Roxas continued talking about his relationship with Sora, how he fused with his former self, and most importantly, all the events that took place since the mission to the desolate world up until now. It was hard for the blonde to explain everything, especially some things that he himself did not know. Occasionally Riku and Kairi helped him explain and fill in some gaps in the story, like the existence of Naminé and how she helped them throughout their previous journey. He also made sure to avoid going over unnecessary details that would have otherwise kept them talking for hours and thus waste precious time. Overall Roxas believed they managed quite nicely.

By the end of the explanation, the room was in complete silence. The atmosphere was a mixture of surprise, confusion, and disbelief because of the newfound knowledge that had been suddenly slammed down over the unsuspecting audience. Even Cloud and Leon were caught off guard, their usual stoic expressions gone without a trace. It took a couple of minutes for everyone to compose themselves and for their tired brains to digest all the shocking information that had been given to them. Once that was done, the floor was opened to questions.

"Let me get this straight. You and Naminé are the nobodies of these kids and have been with them since the start of this adventure?" Leon was the first to ask.

Roxas and Naminé nodded.

"So then, why didn't Sora ever mention you?" Yuffie asked next, trying to sound as less blunt as possible.

"Yuffie!" Tifa reprimanded.

"But it's true!" Yuffie pouted.

Roxas just looked at Tifa and shook his head in a 'don't worry' kind of way.

"**I can't say for sure, but I think it's because Sora never wanted any of you to worry about him."** Roxas answered. At this, everyone turned to look at the blonde. **"You were all so busy rebuilding Hollow Bastion. I don't think Sora wanted to cause you any more trouble. Becoming a burden to those around him, that's what Sora wanted to avoid. I don't really think he knew how to go about it either. With me, he was really confused at first, even a little afraid, but then, things got better and he was able to sort it out. But even after that, he still didn't know how others would react to me. As for Naminé, I don't think he wanted to give Kairi any troubles."**

"So he kept quiet about it." Cid stated.

"**Exactly"** Roxas replied.

"That's just like Sora, he always thinks about others before himself." Kairi said as a small warm smile made its way into her features.

"When it comes to others, he always jumps in to save the day, but when it comes to himself, he is completely hopeless." Riku said, looking towards the bed that contained the brunette while also smiling gently.

"**I think it's the same now."** Roxas said, deep in thought. **"The reason as to why Sora didn't tell anyone about his condition. The reason as to why he left. I think he wanted to deal with it himself. He was afraid he would end up hurting any of his loved ones if they got involved, especially after what happened in Twilight Town. After the darkness engulfed him and he turned his attack towards us, he changed. It was like he became afraid of himself, afraid of losing control and what would happen if he did. None of us held him against what happened, yet he felt unable to forgive himself."**

Roxas paused as his audience sat in quiet understanding. **"And still, when we came back to Radiant Garden, and it was under attack, Sora just sorta snapped back into action despite his injuries. He knew the risks and I could tell he was in a lot of pain, but to him, his friends were more important."**

Roxas closed his eyes and clenched his fist in a clear sign of frustration. **"I may be his nobody, but that doesn't mean I care about Sora less than any of you. We may have had our differences at first, but all I want at the moment is to see him on his feet again, just being the Sora we all know and love." **

"Roxas is right. Sora has always been by our side when we needed him, now it's our turn to help him." Kairi said as she stood up from his seat.

"I agree. I made my share of mistakes, but Sora never blamed me for any of them. I won't turn my back on my friend." Riku also stood up, following Kairi.

"**Me too, I was so alone back then, but Sora came to my rescue and forgave me, even after everything I put him through."** Naminé said.

"Kairi, Riku, we all agree that we must help Sora, but that's not the problem here." Leon said while looking directly at both youths.

"He's right." Cid said while he stood up and walked over to the bed. "I don't mean to be the 'rain on your parade', but we don't exactly know what is wrong with the kid to begin with."

"Actually, I believe I do in fact know what is wrong with Sora." Merlin spoke for the first time, turning all eyes towards him.

"You do? Really!" Yuffie cried out.

"Yes, I do. But before I begin, I just want to be clear on one thing; Sora is in a very perilous situation right now, even though I may have a theory as to what caused it, and even if there was a way to help him, the odds of him surviving are very slim. I just want all of you to be prepared should the worst happen. Now before I tell you all my theory, there is something I want to ask. Before Sora begun to attack all of you, did something particular happen, was there perhaps a particular light or sound?"

"Well if there was, it could have easily been hidden by the storm outside." Leon answered.

"Wait, I remember something." Cloud suddenly spoke up.

_Cloud spared a sideways glance at Leon who appeared knocked out from the explosion. He found himself unconsciously gripping his sword harder. The small voice in the back of his head was screaming at the top of its lungs, warning him of impending danger. As if on cue, there was a loud snapping sound. The figure amidst the dark whirlwind opened its eerie yellow glowing eyes, arched its back, letting out a horrifying bloodcurdling roar._

"A snapping sound?" King Mickey asked.

"That's right." Cloud answered without hesitation.

"Then it is as I feared." Merlin spoke grimly. "Sora has lost his light."

"Wait, light as in, Sora lost his heart? That's impossible!" Riku protested.

"Doesn't that mean he should be a Heartless?" Donald squawked.

"Gawrsh, but Sora doesn't look like a Heartless now." Goofy offered.

"**Yeah, I think I would know if Sora became a Heartless."** Roxas said.

"Don't misunderstand me. Sora has not yet lost his heart, but he is in grave danger of doing so. The light I'm talking about is the light which compromises each living being, of course except for Heartless, who are beings made solely of darkness. Inside every being there is both light and darkness, together they form a very delicate balance. This presence of darkness however does not mean a person is evil. With the exception of the Princesses of the Heart, all beings have darkness within. The problem arises when the balance is disrupted and either light or darkness, overcomes the other and chaos ensues. This chaos wrecks havoc in the body in a similar manner to a disease. I believe this is what ails Sora."

"**But how could this happen? Normally when there is an imbalance, the body is able to fight the problem and fix it on its own just like with diseases."** Naminé asked.

"Well yes, that would normally be the case, but I'm afraid this is different." Merlin answered.

"That darkness, it just wasn't normal." Cloud stated. "When the darkness was unleashed, it felt like every single negative emotion coursed through it. It felt so…malevolent."

"Where could such a thing have come from?" Leon asked.

"I believe Roxas already answered that." Merlin said. "I believe it's time I told you a very old forgotten story about a certain world, so old in fact, hardly any records exist. A story I was unfortunately too late to discover."

Merlin took a deep breath. "A long time ago, so long ago it was forgotten by history, there was a world known as Charn. It was a rich and plentiful world that for millennia gave life to entire civilizations. Cities grew and people prospered; everything was good. Yet soon conflicts started to arise. People became greedy and began to fight and kill for gold and jewels. Civilizations began to fight one another for their riches. Rulers became cruel and corrupt with power. Blinded by greed and a lust for power, the people of Charn began to destroy everything around them, all while the planet wept tears of sadness and pain. But that wasn't the end of it. Soon they developed weapons of such terrible power that in the end they not only destroyed themselves, but nearly destroyed their world. The world was never able to recover and once again bring life because of the destruction at the hands of its own inhabitants. Yet the empty world continued to feel the pain of its injuries and the heartache from its memories, and in time, those feelings were corrupted into anger, malice, and resentment. Desolate and bitter, the world begun to decay, the negative emotions rotting its heart at the core and filling it with darkness. Yet no one was there to witness it for the world had long since been forgotten."

Merlin finished his story as everyone sat in silence. "The world Sora visited was, without a doubt, Charn in its final moments. The Heartless he was wounded by was most likely created from the malevolent darkness in the world's heart. I believe that when the creature pierced him, the darkness went inside his body and slowly began to grow and spread like poison. His body no doubt tried to defend itself, but it wasn't dealing with regular darkness and so it failed. When the levels of the darkness got too high, Sora most likely took that Heartless-like form because his body recognized the abundance of darkness from his time as a Heartless and it also helped to release some of that darkness. But even then the strain on his body and heart was too much, eventually causing Sora to lose his light. The sound you heard was that of his light shattering and leaving his body. At the moment Sora is in a coma-like state, he is alive for now but I'm afraid that without that light, Sora's heart will give up and he will become a Heartless again."

"But, last time he became a Heartless, we were able to save him!" Kairi cried out.

"I'm afraid this is different, not only is the darkness in him too strong, but it has also weakened his heart and taken his light, I'm afraid once he becomes a Heartless there won't be any way to help him." Merlin answered.

"What if we give Sora some light?" Aerith asked.

"I'm afraid it won't work. It will simply be banished by the strong darkness within." Merlin answered.

"But we have to do something!" Riku spoke up.

Leon furiously rubbed his temples. How were they supposed to think of something? They were just too tired. For Odin's sake, they just fought off a Heartless invasion AND he received the beating of his life! At this point, coffee was the only thing that was keeping him awake. To make things worse, the many wounds on his body were robbing him of his concentration. He was also sure this was also the case with the other HBRC members in the room since all of them looked half dead.

"How much time do we have before he becomes a Heartless?" Leon asked.

"Well. I'd say he has little less than a week, maybe five days." Merlin calculated.

"Well then, I hate to say it but I think that for now we should all rest." Leon said clearly frustrated.

"What!" Donald squawked.

"Leon…" Aerith said.

"**He's right."** Roxas said breaking his silence and getting everyone's attention. **"We are all tired and most of us are still injured. I also want to help Sora but we won't be able to do anything in the state we are in right now. That's why I think we should rest for now."**

"I agree with Roxas." King Mickey said. "It's been a long and hard day, and there is a lot of information to process. I think we should talk about this tomorrow when our brains are rested."

* * *

Although many were reluctant to postpone the talk for the next day, eventually everyone gave up and dragged their tired selves off to rest. Those that did not have anywhere to sleep were given rooms in the vacant houses surrounding Merlin's house. Yet despite the kind accommodations, not everyone was able to sleep well. Their minds still pondered over the unconscious brunette.

One of such individuals was a see-through blonde that was currently gazing at the moon from the Bailey.

"**Hello Roxas." **Called a voice, that made said boy give a startled leap.

"**Oh, it's you Naminé. You really scared me." **Roxas said smiling.

"**You're worried about him aren't you?"** Naminé said as she gently laid her transparent hand on his equally transparent shoulder.

Roxas' smile faltered and he gave a small nod.

"**I feel like he is slipping away. With every moment that passes by, his presence becomes weaker and weaker. I fear that soon he will disappear completely."** He confessed, as he faced the moon and then closed his eyes.

"**Me too. But you know…"** At this pause, Roxas turned to look at Naminé who smiled and continued. **"Sora has never disappointed us before. He may surprise us yet again."**

"**Yeah."** Roxas smiled fondly. **"It's odd. At first, all I wanted was to be free of Sora. I wanted to be myself and not 'the Keyblade Master's Nobody that wasn't even meant to exist'. But now that Sora is in danger of disappearing, I want us to be together and complete more than anything else. I don't know, there is just this strange bond between us. It's almost as if it was there already, even before we were 'born'. I just can't explain it."**

"**Are you worried about what will happen to you if Sora loses his heart?" **Naminé asked shyly in an almost inaudible voice.

Roxas lowered his head and sighed. **"I just don't know anymore."**

A long silence followed as both teens turned their gazes towards the full moon and the occasional clouds left behind by the storm. Neither of them spoke, but instead they stood quietly in mutual understanding. Their silence would only be interrupted by chirping of crickets or the occasional bat or owl that flew through the chilly night.

"**So, how is Kairi doing?"** Roxas said, finally breaking the silence.

"**She is really worried, as you can imagine. You two had us worried sick when you didn't come back. And now that Sora might lose his heart, she must be feeling even worse. She hasn't been able to sleep well either. She keeps getting nightmares."** Naminé said sadly.

"**How about Riku?"** Roxas asked.

"**He is just like Kairi, only better at hiding it. I think it's mostly because he wants to keep up the morale."** Naminé said. **"He really has changed."**

"**I think we all have."** Roxas said. **"For the better."**

Naminé thought about it. He was right, they really had changed, and she was no exception. She may still be a bit shy, but she was no longer the helpless little girl that had once been used to hurt others. She had once been afraid of standing up for herself because of how she would be punished later, particularly by one very sadistic female organization member, but now it was different. She would no longer let others hurt her. She refused to become someone's puppet. When Kairi was captured, she managed to stand up to Saïx didn't she? And strangely enough, it was all tied to Sora in the end.

Naminé let out a small smile and then shivered as a chilly breeze swept past her.

"**Hey, you're shivering."** Roxas said in realization. **"Come on, we should head back, it's getting cold."**

Naminé nodded while still shivering.

Roxas wrapped an arm around Naminé's shivering form in an attempt to warm her. She seemed surprised at the sudden contact, which in turn made Roxas realize what his action implied and quickly let go of her while blushing. Naminé however, simply smiled and placed Roxas's arm back over her, dismissing said blonde's embarrassment. And so the two teens made their way back to The Borough, each being able to sleep even the slightest bit better.

* * *

The sun's rays had not yet peeked over the horizon when a lone figure quietly snuck through the Borough. Although the Borough was quite foggy at the moment, the figure's dark red hair and pink dress stood out against the grey, blue, and brown surroundings. Quickly and silently, the figure walked up to Merlin's House and soundlessly opened the door to enter. Once inside, the figure quickly closed the door to avoid any precious heat to escape.

Walking up to the bed at the end of the room, the figure passed by a lit candle on a nearby table, revealing her to be none other than Kairi. Once she reached the bed, she kneeled down to have a better look at its occupant.

Sora looked no better than the last time she had seen him. The strange black markings were still tattooed to his now pale skin, creeping dangerously as if to envelop him completely. His usually spiky hair was now drooped low and plastered with dry sweat. His face had a look of both exhaustion and defeat. Had it not been for the weak rise and fall of his chest, one could easily believe the person in front of her to be dead. At least the cuts and bruises that lay strewn all over his body were now healing through magic.

Kairi frowned and took a seat on the bed next to Sora. With utmost gentleness, she brought her hand up to his forehead and carefully removed the bangs from his face.

"I had the feeling I would see you here." A voice said.

Kairi turned around recognizing the voice. In the far darkened corner of the room the shadows shifted. From the shadows a figure appeared, the lights cast by the lit candle revealed a head of long silvery hair and turquoise eyes.

"Riku, what are you doing here?" Kairi asked.

"Last night I told Aerith I would keep watch over Sora overnight so that she, along with everyone else, could go to sleep." Riku calmly replied.

"Oh." Kairi said, feeling slightly dumb. Of course someone had to stay by Sora to check his condition.

"There's still some time before the others wake up. You should go back and sleep some more." Riku said as he grabbed a nearby chair and sat down.

"What about you? You haven't slept yet have you?" Kairi asked.

"It's okay I'm not really tired anyways." Riku answered.

"Then I'll stay here then too!" Kairi declared.

"You sure?" Riku asked.

"Yeah besides…" Kairi frowned as she looked at Sora.

Riku followed her glance and understood. Even if she tried to sleep, she wouldn't be able to. Just like him, she felt she should stay by his side and wait if she had to. Riku stood up from his seat and laid his hand on her shoulder.

"We'll wait together then." Riku said. And so together they sat and waited. They remembered the good and the bad times, telling each told stories to pass the time. That way, once everyone awoke, they could finally help their friend.

* * *

He was falling deeper and deeper into the abyss. Nothing but darkness surrounded him as he fell, and yet he was not afraid. A voice called to him from the darkness, strange and yet familiar. He remembered hearing it once in a dream on the day of the _real_ start of his journey. Heeding the strange voice, he opened his eyes.

"Where am I?" Sora thought to himself out loud.

He was completely surrounded by darkness so tangible that he felt as if he were submerged in water. Yet it was as if his brain barely registered the strange and possibly dangerous situation he was in. It was a feeling similar to the first seconds of waking up from a long dream, minus the numbness he felt in his whole being. He felt very lightheaded and almost disconnected from the rest of his body. Aside from where he was, his mind was foggy and seemed unable to think or reason. His very brain refused to part with any information that would have otherwise helped him.

"What's happening to me?"

* * *

Dawn's first rays of light began to pour through the Borough, slowly waking up the sleeping inhabitants. Inside Merlin's house, Riku and Kairi still sat by their friend's side as they waited for everyone else to arrive so they could finally begin the meeting that would decide Sora's fate. Slowly, one by one, their friends started to come in. The first ones to arrive were those from the HBRC, starting with Cloud and Leon whose military-like 'waking up at the crack of dawn' routine seemed unfazed by the intense fighting from the day before. Their bodies on the other hand had no such luck, evident by the occasional pained expression or wince they would make when they made sudden movements or sat down. Soon the others appeared as well, and it was evident that nodody really slept all that well. Merlin was the last to make his appearance, bringing with him several tomes that were probably as ancient as he was. As soon as everyone was seated and awoken (with the help of copious amounts of coffee, courtesy of Aerith) the meeting officially began.

Merlin began by recapping what happened yesterday and left the room open for discussion on what could be done. Few ideas were given, and unfortunately most of the ideas were shot down immediately for being far too risky or dangerous.

"We simply can't do that." Merlin said while massaging his temples.

"But if you say the darkness is doing that to Sora, wouldn't removing it from him be the best solution?" Riku asked completely serious as others agreed with him.

"Merlin's right Riku. The darkness is acting like a parasite. Forcefully removing it from Sora might actually hurt him worse than leaving it there." King Mickey replied.

Riku looked taken aback for a moment before sighing and looking down at the floor. "But then what can we do?"

Kairi sighed and slowly got up from her chair, moving to the back of the room where Sora was, unnoticed by the others who were still arguing. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate what everyone was doing. They all obviously cared about Sora very much. It was just that all that arguing was getting them nowhere. To make matters worse, it seemed there simply wasn't a way to make Sora better. For the first time since their last grand adventure, Kairi felt completely and hopelessly lost.

She sat on the bed next to Sora, letting her hand gently stroke his hair. Without realizing it warm salty tears rand down her face, and she quickly moved her hand to wipe them. She had promised to be strong for Sora, but how could she when things looked so grim? Behind her the others had noticed her tears. Riku was the first to move towards her and gently place his arm around her figure. The others also got up and slowly approached, not quite knowing what to do.

Tears continued to flow down her face as she silently wished that everything would be okay again. She wished to see Sora's cheery smile once more. To see those beautiful azure eyes almost sparkle in the sun of their small island paradise. She also suddenly remembered her own birthday would be in a few days, and Sora may not be there. Her small family of friends would never be the same without him.

"Please bring him back. Please be safe." Kairi whispered.

The others stood behind her with guilty sullen faces. They wished they could comfort the red haired girl like they would with a child. They wished they could tell her that everything would be okay and it was only a bad dream. They wished they could tell her that sweet tempting lie, but they couldn't. They were all very aware that things were not okay. They all knew Kairi had all the right in the world to be upset. Her friend would soon suffer a fate worse than death and all they did was discuss back and forth for hours with nothing to show for.

"**Kairi…"** Naminé said softly, her voice going almost unheard by everyone else.

She brought her right hand to her chest, feeling useless and unable to help her other self. She was startled out of her thoughts when someone took hold of her left hand and gave it a small reassuring squeeze. She looked to her side only to see Roxas looking directly at her. His lips were a firm line and his own azure eyes looked at her as if saying 'it's not your fault'. Despite this, both teens could only watch in silence as Kairi's tears fell, one by one. Until eventually all were shed, and the red haired girl could cry no more. Then a grim silence overtook the small cottage, as if everyone was quietly grieving.

"I know I asked you to bring this back to me." Kairi said quietly, yet still breaking the silence. She slowly got up, still directing her voice at the brunette Keyblade Master, as if he could still hear her. She slipped her hand into her pocket and took out her precious good luck charm. Holding it close to her heart she continued. "In reality, I always wanted you to have it. That way you could always be safe and return home."

Kairi then took Sora's hand within her own and put her charm on his open palm. "So please Sora, come back to us!"

As soon as the Charm made contact with Sora, a brilliant white light shot forth, shocking its audience and enveloping the whole room. The strength of the blinding light soon made everyone step back and raise their arms or even their weapons in a feeble attempt to protect their senses. As soon as it began to die down and everyone felt it was safe to look, the various occupants of the room opened their eyes, still on their guard, and looked around with puzzled looks. Cid seemed the first to voice everyone's current question.

"WHAT THE F-" But before Cid was able to let out a rather colorful word, a fast ball of pure light shot out from Sora's direction and began to ricochet like a tiny comet inside the cottage, knocking down shelves with books and china in the process.

Leon brought up his gunblade readying a blow to the incoming ball of light, and about to strike when Merlin stopped him.

"WAIT!" Merlin hastily shouted at the older swordsman, while shocking those around him who had never seen the wizard in such a frantic state.

Leon looked at him wide eyed and instead quickly dodged out of the ball's way. The mini comet bounced off another wall before breaking through the window and exiting the house.

Everyone quickly went outside after the ball, but it had already flown towards the Bailey.

"Yuffie follow it!" Leon quickly ordered their fastest member.

"Got it!" Yuffie quickly said, before dashing after it and disappearing in the blink of an eye.

After everyone was able to fully grasp what just happened, Leon was the first to talk.

"Now, would you care to enlighten us and tell us what the heck just happened?" Leon said in all seriousness as he turned to look at Merlin.

Merlin quickly ushered everyone inside and then, much to everyone's surprise, smiled warmly. "There is still hope."

* * *

Sora could not explain what was happening. One moment he was floating dully, his mind hazy and his body unresponsive. But now, after seeing a brilliant light in his mind's eye, he was writhing in pain as he felt a rush of information through his head. He felt as if the whole story of his life was playing right in front of his eyes while feeling and thinking every emotion and thought that ever coursed through him. He held his head between his hands and cried out in pain as he felt his head was about to explode. Then as soon as he remembered everything that happened, it suddenly stopped.

He still cradled his head at the throbbing headache he was now experiencing, no doubt a result of what just happened. As soon as he got up from the floor he realized that he was no longer floating, that his injuries had completely vanished, and that, in fact, the darkness had receded to reveal a round stained glass platform.

"What happened?" Sora asked himself as he stared as his now uninjured hand in wonder.

It had an overall red color scheme, but everything else including its contents was a mystery. This was because several splotches of darkness littered around the platform, and tarnished the glass surface in a way that reminded Sora of a snake slowly enveloping its prey. In fact, it unnerved him how that darkness was seemingly weakening the structure, as evident by the many cracks in the glass scattered here and there. It gave him the horrible feeling that the glass underneath him would shatter at any given second.

"**Keyblade Master who in darkness has fallen…"**

Sora quickly looked around, recognizing the voice that called him. It was the same he heard in that dream at the beginning of his first adventure.

"**Take up your arms and fight, for in yourself lies your greatest enemy." **

Sora walked up to the middle of the platform, questions buzzing through his head.

"**May virtue guide you, for you will face countless challenges."**

"What do you mean by that? What's going on?" Sora asked, whilst looking at the space above him.

"**Beyond you lies a harsh road** **but you mustn't give in, for your time has not come and the door has not yet opened."**

"ANSWER ME!" Sora yelled as he angrily set his foot down.

The moment it touched the ground the platform beneath him shook violently, making the stained glass shatter into a million pieces. Sora cried out in surprise and, along with the countless shards of glass, fell too into the dark abyss below.

"**Be strong and never forget, through adversity you must keep walking."**

* * *

Everyone looked at Merlin in astonishment. Was it true then, was there really hope? Merlin, instead of answering everyone's current question, instead proceeded to run around the room, flipping through the pages of old books, whilst muttering to himself.

"Eureka!"Merlin cried out after apparently finding just what he wanted. After reading a few lines of the book he turned towards the others, as if just realizing they were there. "It's risky but this might just work. Either way we must make haste."

"It would really help if you told us what is going on." Riku said, getting impatient with the wizard's attitude.

"Yes of course." Merlin muttered before looking towards the others to begin his explanation. "As I said before, the darkness within Sora originated in Charn. It was made more powerful and malevolent because of the strong negative memories that the world had towards its inhabitants. If I'm correct then Sora's own light has begun to do the same. But instead, it will seek out a strong positive force to counteract the darkness. It is possible that Kairi somehow catalyzed this reaction to happen within Sora. Her status as a Princess of the Heart only strengthens my suspicion."

"Then it's a good thing, now Sora can fight the darkness, Ahyuk." Goofy reasoned.

"Not quite." Merlin replied. "Although the reaction was caused by Kairi, the light that emanated from it could not have all come from her. It must've been from Sora. Therefore, until Sora's light is returned to his body, he will be particularly vulnerable to the darkness. There's still some light in him, but it won't be nearly enough."

"Then what do we do?" Kairi asked.

"You must retrieve Sora's light before time runs out. I would start by looking for that ball of light you saw earlier since I believe it's still in Radiant Garden. As for the rest, I suspect they are in other worlds." Merlin approached the bed and took Kairi's lucky charm. "Take this, I believe you will able to use it as a container for the light. Each section of the charm should accommodate the light of a single world. In other words you must travel to five worlds including this one of course. Once it is full come back to Radiant Garden."

"But if the light is on other worlds how will we know which one? I mean, there are millions of them out there!" Donald squawked.

"Glad you asked." Merlin said. "The light will be found in places that have a special deep significance to Sora. It can't be just any place; something important to him must have happened to him there. But you must hurry, Sora won't be able to hold out for much longer!"

"Alright." Kairi nodded. Just then, Yuffie barged in through the door, obviously out of breath.

'That was fast.' Riku thought in amazement.

After a few seconds and several deep breaths, she spoke.

"Guys, the weird ball of light is at the old castle. The light split once I got inside so I couldn't follow it." She said while still taking large gulps of air.

"**Well then, I guess we have our first destination."** Roxas said.

The others nodded. Quickly saying goodbye, they left the house and made their way towards the large castle. Their pace was fast, and their time was limited, but their spirits were lifted and that made all the difference.

* * *

Sora slowly got up to realize he was in absolute darkness. He gently rubbed the spot he had landed on after his great fall. Why did this stuff always happen to him? That was something he really wanted to know.

'I need a light.' Sora thought to himself. He concentrated on casting a fire spell, but to his surprise, nothing happened, not even a spark. He tried casting other spells, but as much as he tried to use magic it simply didn't happen. His magic was inaccessible.

Looking around him he saw absolutely nothing. He was about to take a blind step forward, but the small voice in the back of his head told him against it. He had no idea where he was. If he was on a platform like the one before, a blind step forward could be his last. He wouldn't know he stepped over the ledge until he was already falling to oblivion. With the sudden realization, he began to feel a deep fear clawing at the back of his mind. The darkness surrounding him was starting to look very menacing. He was completely alone and practically blind.

Sora paused once that statement finally sunk in. He was alone, without his friends. Not even Roxas was there inside his mind. What happened to them? Were they safe? Where were they? The last thing he remembered was the light from the keyblades striking him, and then darkness. Then it struck him. Was he dead? It couldn't be.

'I have to get back!' Sora decided with newfound resolve.

Sora decided to take a cautious step to see if it was safe. After a satisfyingly solid ground met his foot, relief washed over him and he took his next step. He continued this routine another six times, each time he felt his heart pounding within his chest and the images of falling through the darkness flood through his head. He could also feel the adrenaline being pumped through his veins, increasing his heart rate and enhancing his senses. His ears were flooded by the pounding of his heart and his ragged gasps for breath. He was sure he could even hear a pin drop with the eerie amount of silence present.

Suddenly his muscles tensed and he turned around, his heart beating madly. Sora could've sworn he felt something shift behind him. Was he being paranoid? Was the darkness getting to him? Would he go insane in this place?

Sora clutched his chest, willing his heart to calm down. He could feel the goosebumps on his skin and the cold sweat on his neck and brow. The very primal part of his brain was flashing giant red signals at him. Suddenly he remembered the other reason as to why people feared the dark. As a kid, he feared the dark because of the many monsters that hid in it. Of course those monsters were all harmless and a result of his active imagination. But now he had no such luck. He knew the dangers were very real. Without his vision he couldn't see his foe or run away from it, he also didn't have his friends to watch his back should anything happen. He felt so small and so vulnerable, he hated it.

He wasn't a coward, but at the moment he couldn't help but feel afraid. It was the fear of the unknown that plagued his mind. It was the same fear he felt when the heartless first invaded his home. Back then he had no idea what the creatures were, or how to defeat them. When they destroyed his world, and he lost his friends, the fear became almost unbearable.

Sora quickly turned around again, this time he was sure he heard something behind him. He could feel as if he was being watched. Suddenly he felt like a mouse trapped in a cat's den. Part of him was urging him to run away from the danger, but he knew it was a bad idea so he suppressed that urge. Instead he closed his eyes and tried to listen for any other sound.

This time he heard something move on his left, so he opened his eyes and turned to face the danger. He was only able to see a flash of yellow before it was gone again. The first thing he thought of was a Heartless, and a fast one by the looks of it. He listened for it again and this time he heard a clanking sound off his right. He turned and again he was faced with a flash of yellow. Quickly he began to feel like he was being toyed with.

Sora quickly began to get annoyed. He was still fighting an inner battle with himself. A part of him was still feeling a great deal of fear, but at the same time he knew he would have to confront the monster sooner or later. He had to get back to his friends, and nothing would stop him from reaching his goal.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" Sora cried out, feeling some courage seep back into him. He was done with fear. He refused to let it get in his way again.

After hearing more metallic clanks, the place suddenly went eerily quiet. Sora shifted a bit, preparing himself for what was to come. Then out of the darkness two yellow predatory eyes appeared, thereby revealing the Heartless. Sora took a battle stance and summoned Oblivion, its familiar weight soothed him. The heartless opened its monstrous maw and let out a deafening roar that mixed with the sound of rattling chains. Sora stood his ground as the earth beneath him shook.

Once it was over, Sora took a deep breath and, tightening his grip on Oblivion, he charged.

'Why was it always him?'

* * *

**Canis: "My name is Roxas, and I'm an alchoholic."**

**Crystal: *lols***

**Canis: "Sorry but I was tempted. Anyways, the title is actually the name of a Phoenix Wright game (which I got addicted to once) which I just thought fitted the chapter . Virtual cookies to anyone who can guess where I got the name 'Charn' from, or to anyone who can spot the D. Gray-man reference (I love that series)!"**

**Crystal: "Oh I miss eating cookies with you." *cries***

**Canis: "Yeah I know! Stupid 7 hours coming in between us. If you are wondering, that's also part of why I couldn't update earlier."**

**Crystal: "Well, at least it's up now for everyone to enjoy."**

**Canis: "Yeah you're right." *claps hands* "Soooo, reviews anyone?"**

**Until next time!**

**Canis and Crystal out!**


	12. Valor

**Hero's Heart Chapter 12: Valor**

**Ok, I finally managed to finish this. Everytime I tried to write, something just kept coming up. Not just work, or a lazy muse either, I spent a whole week away for the 18th of September holidays, which was a really big deal over here in Chile since its our 200th anniversary as a country (I hope the other Chileans reading this also had a great time *drools* asadooos). Though I had a blast, I didn´t get a chance to write. Oh, and thankfully my things already arrived (took another week just to sort them out). Either way, I´m happy with how this chapter turned out.**

New updates!

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

**"Roxas/Naminé/mysterious disembodied voice speech" **

_**'Roxas/Naminé thoughts'**_

_Memories_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, though I think that should be obvious since it is fanfiction.**

**On with the show!**

**

* * *

**

Run.

That small word was being repeated over and over again in the mind of the silvery haired teen. There was no time to stop and rest, they had to get a good head start. Riku ignored the needle-like pain in his side and instead continued to take deep breaths. Inhale, exhale, one foot, and then another. His body protested, but his mind had long since overcome it. The others ran alongside him: Kairi, Naminé, Roxas, Donald, Goofy, and even the King.

They had just left Merlin's house with the news of a new hope. Squall and the others also wanted to come, but the King had insisted that it would best if they stayed. Their injuries still made it hard for some of them to move, and besides, with the recent Heartless attack their help was still needed by the people of Radiant Garden. Even Yuffie, who had originally tracked down the ball of light, was forced to stay behind because her speed and mobility were key to transport supplies.

It didn't really matter to them anyways, as they all knew very well where they were headed next. It was, after all, a place that still haunted Riku's nightmares. Indeed, how could he even hope to forget what happened in that place? Even now as he looked up and saw that large castle looming over him, he remembered the tears and betrayals as if it had only happened yesterday.

_'I was such an idiot_.' Riku thought, but then quickly reprimanded himself. _'This is no time to feel sorry for myself. Gotta hurry!'_

The group continued to run through the empty streets of Radiant Garden. They moved swiftly and silently, this was not the time for idle chatter. Soon, concrete streets gave way to rough makeshift paths, while the closely packed houses gave way to deserted construction sites. The only thing that didn't change was the large shape of a castle looming in the distance. At this rate they would reach it before midday.

….

Sora cursed under his breath as his swipe once again hit air. He had been at it with the mysterious heartless for what felt like an eternity. It was impossible to see through the inky darkness and the only signs of his adversary were the low predatory growls, occasional clanking of chains, and a flash of yellow right before an attack. At that point the only thing he could do was to dodge since he was unable to see the incoming attack. Once or twice he had been lucky enough to block, or at least he assumed he did since he heard loud clanks and felt a huge force strike against Oblivion's shaft. Up until now he had suffered minor scratches and considering the strength of the monster's attacks, he was considering himself to be very lucky. He DID NOT want to experience an attack at its full potential. That's why he had decided to stick with dodging. By doing so he was less likely to suffer a direct hit, something he had to avoid at all costs with his current lack of magical healing abilities.

This wasn't the first time he had fought in the dark, his experience in Port Royal with Barbossa and 'Illuminator' was proof of that, but this was completely different than back then. For starters, he had his friends watch his back, and he could also heal himself through magic for that matter. In all honesty, he would rather fight that battle a thousand times over than experience the one he was currently engaged in.

This Heartless was like nothing he had seen before.

_'Normally with a fast opponent, I would use magic to make my opponent stagger and leave him open for an attack. What's worse I don't even know what my opponent looks like or what it is even capable of!' _Sora thought. He was literally and figuratively in the dark. What's worse, his own wild imagination kept forming its own interpretations of the heartless, each scarier than the last. _'I still feel like it's toying with me!'_

While deep in his thoughts, Sora missed the sudden rattling of chains to his left. His state of distraction had created the perfect opportunity to attack. A growl and a flash of yellow brought him back to reality, but by then it was too late to do anything. Sora let out a cry as a wave of pain rippled through his side. He held his breath as he felt four sharp claws slash at his skin, he was sure the wound was deep enough to draw blood. Instead of gripping his side, Sora pushed the pain to the corner of his mind, and used Oblivion to stop the following barrage of attacks with an attack of his own. Much to his surprise, the keyblade struck something solid and the beast let out an angry roar.

_'I hit it!'_ Sora thought as relief washed over him. At least the creature wasn't intangible.

He proceeded to dodge out of the way as the angered creature tried to retaliate. Apparently his attack had only left the creature more angry than hurt. Holding his wounded side tightly, Sora decided to place a cautious distance between him and the thrashing monster. He knew very well that a wounded animal was often rash and unpredictable.

_'Ugghh, a simple Cure spell could at least stop the bleeding.' _Sora thought as he felt a warm liquid, without a doubt blood, flow from his wound onto his hand.

A sudden idea struck him.

_'Why didn't I think of this before? I'm such an idiot.' _Sora mentally grumbled to himself.

As quietly and discreetly as he could to avoid getting the monster's attention, Sora slipped his right hand into one of his many pockets. In this case it was his inventory pocket. Sora began formulating possible attack strategies as he rummaged around, desperately trying to find the item he hoped was there. Most of his plans were sketchy at best, after all he was never really that good at formulating plans to begin with, but now the situation demanded it. As his fingers brushed against a smooth glass-like container, he grinned. His plan was crazy, there was no doubt about it, but it was crazy enough to work.

Sora grabbed the unmistakable container, uncorked it and greedily drank the contents. Almost immediately he felt the pain from his injuries alleviate and part of his energy replenish. At that moment he was really glad he had that potion. For the next part of his plan Sora turned towards where the growling creature was. Having finished its thrashing fit, the Heartless gave a low growl and once again disappeared in the darkness.

Sora on the other hand, still clutching the empty potion bottle, stood on high alert. He focused with every ounce of his being into his hearing, now that his sight was useless. If this was going to work, his timing had to be impeccable. There were no redo's or second chances.

His ears picked up the almost inaudible sound of clanking chains off his right, causing his muscles to tense.

_'No, not yet.' _Sora thought to himself. Unconsciously he tightened his grip on both his weapon and the empty potion bottle.

He heard another clank, this time louder and from his left.

_'He's circling me.'_ Sora concluded.

This time Sora felt the very air behind him shift. Sora turned around quickly and for a fraction of a second he saw a pair of yellow eyes staring right back at him. He knew then that the Heartless was about to attack him.

_'NOW!'_ Sora cried to himself.

Before the monster could even react, Sora threw the empty container directly at the heartless. It instantly shattered once it made contact, hitting the Heartless right in the head and making it stagger in surprise. Sora took this chance to attack. Mustering as much strength as he could in the single hit, Sora swung Oblivion and struck the Heartless right in between the eyes.

The creature roared and howled in pain. Chains clattered noisily in the darkness. Even small sparks flew as long and blade-like things, Sora assumed they were claws, grazed the floor. The Heartless let out a furious roar before crashing noisily to the ground. The ground shook from the resulting crash and Sora found himself struggling to keep his balance and not fall over.

_'Finally!' _Sora thought to himself as he sighed in relief._ 'It's finally over!'_

Sora's instincts told him otherwise. Something wasn't right.

The earth violently shook once again, only this time a dark red fire began to dance wildly where his foe had fallen. The fire only illuminated the area close to the fire; everywhere else was enveloped by a thick fog-like darkness, yet something didn't feel natural about that fire. It wasn't warm or comforting like a regular fire. It also wasn't a bright red, golden or orange; it was a dark blood red with hints of black. Sora clutched Oblivion tighter and every fiber of his being tensed as he felt a strong foreboding feeling. Suddenly the flames shifted and something seemed to rise from the fire. For the first time, Sora was finally able to see what his foe looked like.

The closest thing the Heartless resembled was a giant lion. It wasn't the largest Heartless he had ever fought but it seemed to radiate a sense of power. The creature was a mixture of red and black. While the exposed body was black like most Heartless, it had blood red flames covering its neck, like a mane, and the tip of its long swishing tail. The Heartless also had a pair of long red sabertooth-like fangs, and behind them, a shorter pair of boar-like tusks that protruded over the upper jaw and ended just below each eye. It's face, as well as other parts of its body, were covered in armor. The armor itself was of a dark bronze color and its designs made it vaguely resemble a fleur de lys. Underneath the facial armor, the Heartless had a pair of pointy cat like ears. The creature also had long red blade-like retractable claws on its front paws, and shorter non-retractable claws on its hind paws. What most caught Sora's attention though, was the series of chains that crisscrossed over the creature, the shackles around each paw, and the series of swords, spears and other weapons that were stuck to the creature's back, right behind the mane, as if impaling it. On a closer look most the chains were linked to each shackle and even some weapons, as if trying to restrain the Heartless. Other unconnected chains had its ends hanging freely in random places.

As the fearsome Heartless laid its angry yellow eyes on Sora, the Keyblade Master once again felt that fear and despair from before slowly invade every inch of his body. The Heartless before him let out a deafening roar that spread like a shockwave throughout the arena. Sora knew perfectly what it meant…

Playtime was over.

* * *

"Looks like we're finally here." Riku said as the group finally arrived.

They were now in front of the massive structure that gave this world its previous name; the Hollow Bastion. It was made of a strange combination of stone and twisting metal pipes that almost seemed to glow when light was reflected off their surfaces, even though the metals had obviously seen much better days. Even after years of abandonment, the various contraptions inside the castle still worked, steam would even rise occasionally from some of the pipes, giving the place a somewhat steam punk appearance.

"**So, any ideas on how we get inside?"** Roxas asked the rest of the group. He had never really been there, only seen bits and pieces of it when he dreamed about Sora's adventure so he was really curious.

His question was answered by a long awkward silence.

In their hurry, the group had forgotten about one very important detail. The first time Sora arrived at the castle, he had disembarked at the Rising Falls, yet they were currently clueless on how to access the place from where they currently stood near the Castle Postern.

"Gawrsh, maybe we shoulda asked Leon first." Goofy looked down.

"Well we can't go back now!" Riku said, his frustration clearly showing. He had completely forgotten about that little detail. In his case, Maleficent had transported him to the castle.

"Calm down Riku, we just have to think this through." King Mickey said.

"He's right, there's gotta be a way in." Kairi said.

"That's right, Yuffie said she followed the light inside until it split." Riku said crossing his arms and leaning on one of the pipes. "If we could just figure out where that was."

"Riiikkuuuu…"

"Not now, I'm trying to think Kairi." Riku said, still trying to focus.

"I didn't say anything." Kairi said, putting her hands on her hips. The others simply snickered at her reaction.

Riku gave her a questioning glance.

"Wait, then who-" Riku was about to ask before being interrupted by something that fell from the sky above screaming, and struck him on the head.

"Riku, are you ok?" Kairi asked as she looked at the teen who was nursing the side of his head where a bump was sure to form. He nodded.

"Owie, that hurt." Said a feminine, yet somewhat childish voice. Looking to his side on the floor, Riku was able to see what had hit him in the head.

'She' was small and looked like a pixie, just not quite. Although she had a large yellow and orange scarf around her neck, almost resembling a pair of wings, Riku wasn't sure if it counted. Other than that she had green eyes, long blonde hair, some of which was braided, held up at the top of her head, a blue hairband, a yellow top, an orange miniskirt, long white stockings reaching her mid thigh, and blue and white boots.

"Are you alright?" This time Kairi directed her question at the small pixie. She knelt down and offered her a hand.

She gladly took it, and once on her feet, she brushed some dust off her clothes and then lifted off the ground, floating in midair.

"Rikku!" Said another voice. Both the silvery haired teen and the small pixie looked up, in turn making them give each other confused looks.

"Rikku!" Yet another voice called. This time another two pixies made their way from up the steps to the first pixie.

The first one, most likely the leader, had two mismatched eyes, one blue and the other green, short brown hair and a long braid wrapped in a pink material with a pair of white wings at the end that reached her ankles. She wore a white top with a pink hoodie, a blue pair of shorts with a light blue and white half-dress like sash covering her right leg, and blue boots.

The second one seemed to be the most serious of the bunch. She had short silvery brown hair, even shorter than the others, and had red eyes. She had a small pair of black wings on her back, just as black as the rest of the clothes she wore. The only non black item she wore was a red belt around her waist. She wore a top, a chocker necklace, a pair of long gloves that reached past her elbows, a pair of shorts held in place by a belt with a skull on it, long stockings also reaching her mid thigh, and long boots with belt-like straps.

Riku could only stare at the strange beings that somehow knew his name. Unlike Sora, Riku sometimes had a harder time to grasp new sights, like the one before him. In times like these, he felt that the brunette deserved more credit.

"Oh Rikku, are you all right?" The one with mismatched eyes said.

"I-I'm fine." Riku answered, still unsure of how these pixie things knew him.

The one in black gave an annoyed sigh and turned towards him. "Not you, her!"

_'So she was called Rikku too? Well, that explains it.'_ Riku thought while frowning. He was now feeling a bit awkward. _'Well, that was embarrassing.'_

He looked towards Kairi only to see her trying to stifle her laughter. The others were doing the same with varying degrees of success, even King Mickey (much to Riku's annoyance). Although his pride had been hurt, he let it slip. It had been a while since he had seen Kairi laugh. Ever since Sora left the island, there had been nothing but worries and fears.

"Sorry about all of this." The pixie with the mismatched eyes bowed and apologized.

"It's okay, is your friend all right though? What happened?" Kairi asked before Riku got a chance to say anything.

"I'm fine, just had a little slip while treasure hunting." The blonde pixie said with enthusiasm. The very mention of treasure seemed to get her excited.

"Treasure hunting? Just like last time. Don't you guys ever take a break?" Donald squawked sarcastically.

"Hey! I'll let you know we also helped fight Heartless." The blonde pixie pouted.

For a moment Riku tried his hardest to picture the odd trio in front of him in a fight against an actual Heartless, but failed miserably. Instead his mind focused on what Donald had previously said.

"Wait, just like last time? Do you guys know each other?" Riku asked.

"Yep!" The blonde pixie simply replied.

"These guys tricked us into joining Leon." Paine said.

"We said we were sorry!" Donald squawked.

"Gawrsh Donald, but it was pretty mean." Goofy said.

"Oh, I just realized we didn't introduce ourselves!" The brunette pixie interrupted in order to stop a fight. "I'm Yuna, the one that fell on you is Rikku, and the quiet one over there is Paine. We're just you friendly neighborhood Gullwings!"

After that introductions were made. Yuna took another look at the crowd that had been introduced to her. She was surprised to see two see-through blonde teens amongst the others, Roxas and Naminé, but she thought against saying something about it. It was somewhat rude and in all honesty, they weren't the first she had seen. She still looked at the people in front feeling that something was amiss. Then it hit her.

"Where is Sora?" Yuna asked. At this, a silence overcame the people before her, and she could see the sadness in their eyes.

"Sora is in trouble." Kairi finally spoke. "But to help him we need to find an entran-"

Kairi stopped midsentence as she just realized something.

The Gullwings could help them.

"Rikku, you said you were looking for treasure. Was this inside the castle?" Kairi asked . The others looked at her in confusion at first, but they too caught on.

"Yeah, too bad there was no stinking treasure." Rikku pouted once more.

"Then do you guys know a way to get inside?" Kairi asked while holding unto hope. "It's really important in order to save Sora."

"Yeah we discovered it a while ago. We can show you where it is if you want." Yuna said.

"That would be great!" Kairi spoke for the group.

"Then just follow us!" Rikku said as the trio took off.

"And try to keep up." Paine added.

The group soon found itself running through the maze that was the corridors that lead to Ansem's study. Yet to their surprise, rather than sticking to their left to reach the study, the Gullwings lead them elsewhere in the labyrinth. To those who had never been in the maze, it was impossible to tell exactly where they were after so many twists and turns, but to the rest it was simply a matter of memorization. They had, after all, gotten lost in that same maze before, and they refused to do so again. But as far as Donald and Goofy knew, there was nothing but collapsed passages and dead ends where they were headed.

"Here we are! It took us a while, but we managed to clear the way, but I think we did a pretty good job." Yuna announced proudly.

Everyone just stared at the 'dead end' with their mouths agape. Donald could not begin to fathom how exactly three creatures of such small size had managed to clear out tons and tons of blockage. If anything, it was…disturbing.

Having gotten past their surprise, the group followed the trio through the winding tunnel in considerable silence. Unlike the other tunnels, this one was not lit and instead, the group used nearby lanterns, courtesy of the Gullwings, to illuminate their way. Though where they got them was a complete mystery. The tunnel itself didn't branch out, but it was still hard to keep track of their exact position through all the twist and turns, not to mention the rising and falling slopes. The only real clues the group had of their whereabouts was the now evident humidity that lingered within the tunnel walls, leaving a musky smell, the sound of flowing water and the slight drop of temperature.

It wasn't before long when the tunnel ended and gave way to a dimly lit room with several working machines. Although Riku questioned the placement of machines in such a damp environment, he was more curious as to what these machines did and what had kept them working for so long. He had seen machines like these all over the place in his last visit, but he never really questioned it.

The group had no time to sightsee as the Gullwings lead them past several busted iron gates, again the group chose to ignore the cause of such destruction, and then finally stopped in front of what looked like a giant floating water bubble hovering over a waterway.

"Well, this is your stop." Yuna said smiling.

While Donald and Goofy knew exactly what the bubbles were, the others had no clue since they had probably never travelled in them. Even Riku and Kairi were oblivious despite their previous visit. Kairi was too busy escaping at the time, while Riku never found the need to visit the other sections of the castle, and was only familiar with the lifts.

But before Riku could even ask, a surprisingly strong force collided against him, making him fall backwards with an undignified yelp towards the bubble. A chill went down his spine as his body became enveloped by water. He was barely able to register the orange clad pixie that waved at him with a mischievous smile after having kicked him.

"Make sure you get Sora back!" She called as the bubble sunk in the waterway and the teen disappeared from view.

Riku struck the wall of his watery prison in anger, but his anger quickly gave way to panic as he urgently felt the need to breath. He tried to look around for the nearest place to surface, but he felt his blood go cold when he saw the bubble was headed directly towards an old iron gate that blocked the way. He braced himself for the collision that was sure to come, but to his surprise it never came. Instead he opened his eyes to see his body phase through the bars, and gasped. What little air was left in his lungs was quickly released, and his body automatically inhaled water. Riku clasped his throat, waiting for the black spots to claim his vision and for his consciousness to black out, as was expected of an oxygen deprived brain. But to his surprise, it never happened. Instead he found himself easily breathing in the watery confines of the bubble.

_'Of course.'_ Riku growled. The bubble had been charmed by magic, and obviously the person who charmed it wouldn't want people drowning in them. Although he was glad he was still alive, he still felt like he had been tricked. Not that he was a huge fan of magic to begin with, you could blame Maleficent for that.

_'Stupid magic.'_

Soon enough, the bubble rose to the other side leaving Riku, quite literally, standing on water. Around him were several stone platforms, some of them floating motionless in midair, while others moved lazily to and fro, connecting an upwards path. Yet the most distinguished feature were the Rising falls, gravity defying cataracts that rose high into the air, effectively surrounding the place. Riku however, was too preoccupied to appreciate the scenery and instead crossed his arms leaned on a nearby platform. Next time they met the three 'pixies', he was gonna make sure they paid.

He was soon joined by the remainder of his group, some which were still stifling their laughter. Riku instead took the blow to his pride and urged everyone forward. He wanted to get through this place quickly, before the dark memories in his heart resurfaced.

The group quickly began their long way up the platforms, but thankfully jumping from platform to platform wasn't as hard as it was annoying. The only close call was when Naminé tripped and would have fallen if it wasn't for Roxas's quick reflexes. Riku didn't blame her though, after all, she had spent most of her short existence locked away.

Riku grimaced as the group reached a larger platform with an elaborate stone arch. Seeing this place gave him a sinking feeling in his gut. Experience told him it was guilt, but it felt much worse than that. His right hand twitched as he remembered how he had tossed that wooden sword at Sora, as a sick feeling of victory had overcome him. He had betrayed his friend and even now he could see the brunette fall to his knees as his friends abandoned him.

Surely enough, a small ball of light was flying slowly in rough circles above the ground as if lost. Riku felt a stab of guilt. The fact that a light fragment remained in this place, only showed how much his actions that day affected his friend. Had he been in Sora's shoes, would he have been so quick to forgive? Would he even consider forgiveness?

Riku looked to his side and saw that Donald and Goofy both had frowns on their faces, while King Mickey was by their side talking to them. He was probably reassuring them. Although they had left Sora, it was only because the King told them they were supposed to stick with whoever had the Keyblade. He saw Naminé to his right, who looked back at him with a sad smile. Roxas however, had a far off look, and seemed to be deep in thought. Lastly, he looked towards Kairi, only to see her staring right at him with a worried look. It only lasted a second because as soon as their eyes made contact she looked away.

Looking directly at the light fragment, Kairi's eyes were filled with determination. She reached into her pocket for her charm, and once out, she approached the light fragment. The light stopped its lethargic wandering and approached the group. Kairi held her charm in an outstretched hand towards the light, which then began to shine strongly, blinding the rest of the group.

_Stop!_

_Riku..._

_Let the Keyblade choose...its true master!_

_Sora, sorry._

_And though I am on my own, I will fight._

_I'm not gonna give up now. _

_I came here to find someone very important to me…_

"What was that?" King Mickey asked once the light faded.

"**I-I don't know, but it felt like…"** Roxas stuttered with his brows scrunched up in confusion.

"Memories?" Riku asked with his eyes wide. What they had heard, it was exactly what he had told Sora on that day. Not only that, but he had actually _felt_ something too, strong sadness, loneliness, determination, and at the end, was that love? Were those Sora's emotions?

"**What we heard and felt must be the memories that the fragment held."** Naminé provided. She too had once experienced those memories in Sora's heart.

"In that case, won't every fragment be the same?" Goofy asked.

"Looks like it." Donald squawked.

"So we are going to hear and feel each of Sora's most important memories." Kairi concluded, everyone else stood in silence. She felt her own pain echo with Sora's.

Kairi looked down at her charm. Now the tip of one of the five fragments was glowing faintly. Everyone else seemed to notice it too.

"Come on, our work here is still not done." Riku said as he walked towards the platform that would take them to the castle entrance. Everyone else followed without a word.

"Riku!" Kairi called. Riku stayed behind, letting the others move on ahead. He looked at her, his question evident in his aqua colored eyes.

"I just…wanted to know if you are alright." Kairi asked, sincerity evident in her voice. She had seen the pain in Riku's eyes when they first arrived, and she knew how much it would hurt her friend to remember the things he had for so long tried to atone for.

Riku frowned for a moment before he gave a sad smile. "Don't worry, I'll be ok. But-" Riku said, this time his voice took on a playful tone. "next time I see those pixies, I'll make sure they pay."

Kairi began to laugh heartily while Riku smiled at his 'victory', if making Kairi laugh could be considered one. Afterwards, both teens made their way through the platforms to catch up to the group.

* * *

Leon walked quietly inside Merlin's house so that he wouldn't disturb its sleeping occupant. It had been a while since the group had left for the Bastion, and so far it only made him feel useless. Aerith was currently checking up on Sora, who until a while ago had been as still and pale as death. Though, the same could not be said now.

"Aerith, how is he holding?" Leon asked, tone completely serious.

"His temperature spiked, I'm doing what I can to lower it." Aerith replied as she rung a wet towel and set it on Sora's forehead.

Shortly after the group left, Leon was shocked to discover the brunette shivering. His breath came in quick uneven gasps and a fine sheen of sweat coated his skin, which was now covered in goosebumps. Leon also took note of how his right hand would occasionally twitch.

'_His weapon hand.'_ Leon thought. He made a move to sit down next to Aerith but winced as his still sore chest wounds protested.

"So what does this mean?" Leon asked, now seated next to Aerith.

"It's strange. Before, Sora was simply unresponsive, almost comatose. But now, his symptoms are similar to those of an infection." Aerith answered.

"Merlin did say there was still a small bit of light in Sora. Maybe Sora has joined the fight as well." Leon said. _'Though I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.'_

The swordsman rubbed his temples in annoyance. Why did he have to be so useless at a time like this? Not just this time either. He hadn't been there to help Sora on that forsaken planet, and he definitely hadn't been there during that last battle against Xemnas in The World that Never Was. And now that Sora had lost his light, he couldn't do anything since he was still healing. It would be at least another week until he was completely recovered.

_'There has to be a way I can help.'_ Leon thought. And then it hit him.

The King and the others would still need to travel to other worlds besides this one, and as Merlin had pointed out, travelling through magic was still too dangerous. That and the King's gummi ship must have received some damages during that trip, especially with what had been going on lately. The repairs would take some time, which was something they couldn't afford. They would need every second if they wanted their mission to succeed.

Leon looked once more at the feverish brunette on the bed and made up his mind. _'I can give them the fastest means to travel. It's the least I can do.'_

"Where are you going?" Aerith asked as she saw Leon wince slightly as he got up.

"I'll be gone for a while. I'm going to go see Cid." Leon replied.

* * *

Riku and Kairi finally found the group entering the Castle's large entrance hall. Everyone had agreed that no important events had taken place in the castle's lower levels, and because of the castle's structure, the only way to go was upwards.

The group stopped as it spotted another ball of light in the center of the room. This one was significantly larger than the last. Kairi walked ahead, charm in hand, ready for what was to come. The ball once again shined in a blinding display, though everyone was prepared for it this time.

_The darkness will destroy you._

_The darkness may destroy my body, but it can't touch_

_my heart. _

_My heart will stay with my friends. It'll never die!_

_But I'm not gonna betray Sora either!_

_All for one and one for all._

_Although my heart may be weak, it's not alone._

_My friends are my power!_

_A Heartless is after us!_

_Sora? Is that you?_

_This time, I'll protect you._

_Kairi, thank you._

When the light faded Kairi found herself on her knees with tears streaming out of her eyes. The flow of emotions was just so overwhelming. Even though there was confusion, despair, and loss from being a heartless, it was overshadowed by deep sense of hope, righteousness, gratitude, and love for others.

She was brought out of her thoughts as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Naminé who was also crying. Even though both were the only ones openly doing so the others also looked deeply touched by the memory. Goofy was teary eyed, while Donald was wiping away what he claimed 'was some trash that got in his eyes'. Roxas seemed to look at her with newfound understanding. Riku's expression was soft as he glanced at Kairi and smiled. Naminé helped her to her feet and then embraced her in a hug. Maybe she felt she needed it like she usually did, or perhaps they both needed the hug, one as much as the other.

Looking down at her charm, Kairi saw that now most of the first shell was glowing. Smiling she brought it up for everyone to see.

"Looks like we have one more to go." Riku said, his voice slightly worn out. "And I think I know where it is."

"So, shall we get a move on?" King Mickey asked, first waiting for them to regain their composure.

Once they were ready, it was once again time for the group to move out. But as they walked up the stairs to enter the room in the middle, Roxas gasped out in pain and fell to his knees, while clutching his left shoulder as if in pain. There were startled gasps of surprise from the rest of the group, who quickly gathered around the blonde.

"**Are you alright?"** Namine asked, worry evident in her features.

Roxas nodded, confusion evident in his eyes. He had just felt an intense pain in his shoulder, strong enough to make him fall. But as quickly as it had come, it had just left. Now all that remained was a numb feeling in his shoulder, and the thumping of his rapidly beating heart.

'_**But that pain couldn't have just come from out of the blue.'**_ Roxas thought to himself.

Searching within himself for the answer, something came to his attention and he cursed. The usual place within his mind where Sora's presence resided was now empty. Not even faint like before, no, now it was completely gone. Like a candle blown out with the wind, the presence had simply vanished. Everyone looked confused, if not a bit worried at Roxas's sudden shocked expression.

As if to answer everyone's question, Roxas answered. **"I can't feel Sora anymore."**

* * *

Sora left out an anguished cry as his left shoulder had been pinned down by the lion-like Heartless. He ignored the strange feeling of emptiness that ensued, and instead tried to do something about the large set of claws that had easily torn through fabric and flesh, and were now trying to dig holes through his shoulder. He could only thank his lucky stars it was his left and not his Keyblade wielding right that had been pinned down. Swinging Oblivion harshly in retaliation, Sora slashed the Heartless's offending paw, and quickly moved away from the havoc that came after.

'_What was that feeling though?'_ Sora thought as he fumbled through his pouch. He frowned when he noticed he had only one potion left, but still took it when he saw the blood flowing freely from his shoulder and the other similar wounds the Heartless had inflicted_. 'It felt like I was cut off. Even now, I feel like something´s missing.'_

Sora was snapped out of his thoughts as he saw that the Heartless had finished its rampage and was now turning its sight towards him. It growled and clawed at the ground, its chains rattling in anger, right before speeding at him with the full intent of shredding him to pieces. Sora saw this and quickly tried to dash out of range, but the heartless wouldn't have that. Swinging a massive paw to the ground, the Heartless created a small shockwave that threw Sora off balance and made him slide along the ground painfully. Sora rolled over unto his back, ignoring his various scrapes, and looked over at the monster that was stampeding towards him. He looked at Oblivion in his hand and realized that there was no way he could shield himself against something like that. Then he looked to his side at the discarded potion bottle. It was worth a shot.

In a last ditch effort to save himself, Sora grabbed the bottle and threw it at the Heartless. The Heartless's yellow glowing eyes turned towards the bottle and it dug its claws deep into the earth to overcome the momentum of its charge and stop only a few feet away from the brunette. Although quick tempered, the Heartless did learn from its mistakes. The bottle never hit its intended target, but it did give Sora enough time to get up and escape the beast by sliding under its armored underbelly. Having escaped the monster's sight, Sora took this time to look at the facts.

'_That thing is not only strong, but fast too. I can't use magic, so no long ranged attacks. I need to fight it closed range but I can't get close without it trying to tear me to ribbons. If I approach from any side, even from behind, it will turn on me, I can't attack from below either since its underside is covered in armor. What else is there?'_ Sora thought as he looked intently at the Heartless. Then after seeing the network of chains covering the Heartless, as well as the many odd weapons stuck to its back, Sora got an idea. _'Hi-jumping might do it since it is at least two horses tall, but if only I had something to distract it with...'_

Sora looked down at Oblivion which was held innocently in his hand and smiled. _'Perfect.'_

The Heartless finally caught sight of Sora and roared in outrage. Sora responded by taking a fighting stance to let the monster know he was ready. It was time for the plan.

The Heartless stomped on the ground, creating miniature earthquakes that shook the battlefield. But Sora jumped out of the way, keeping his balance in check. The monster roared, seeing that his attack was ineffective and this time it lowered its head and clawed the ground like an angry bull before unleashing another stampede. Sora's grip around Oblivion tightened as his plan was about to be revealed. Instead of dashing out of the way, he stood before the Heartless's path, every fiber of his being tensed and ready. Like a strung bow ready to fire an arrow, waiting for just the right moment…

_'NOW!'_ Sora thought as he swung his arm and tossed Oblivion, which darted like an arrow towards the Heartless.

Just as expected, the Heartless once again tried to stop its charge. Sora took advantage of the Heartless's slow stop to dash to its side, jump and grab onto one of its dangling chains, and use the momentum to swing directly onto its back, right between its mane and the many metal weapons that pierced the creature's back. Sora tried to ignore the flaming inferno in front of him, and instead took hold of one of the chains that dangled from a large sword behind him and swung it like a rope around the Heartless's head and through its open mouth like a pair of metallic reigns. Sora caught the end of the chain as it made a full circle around the monster, and quickly secured it to the shaft of a nearby spear, effectively restricting the Heartless's movements.

The Heartless was simply furious. It couldn't turn its head to attack so it roared and growled, jumped, kicked and reared up, much like an angry rodeo bull. But Sora grabbed on to the chains and the blunt weapons to stay on the monster's back, the strong rocking motion would send him flying otherwise. The Heartless lashed at Sora with its flaming tail, effectively burning his side but still, Sora didn't let go. It even tried to roll over on its back and crush its rider, but doing so only made the collection of iron weapons on its back penetrate its hide further, making the creature howl in pain.

Sora winced as he felt his muscles begin to tire, and his injuries start to truly pain him. He realized then that it was time to deliver the final blow. It was now or never. Sora let go of the chains that trapped the Heartless, but before it could react, Sora summoned Oblivion and using all of his remaining strength, used both hands to thrust the blade downwards, at the base of the Heartless's neck. The Heartless gave an ear-splitting roar, and then finally sent Sora flying off its back with a last powerful kick of its hind legs. Sora landed painfully on the ground, and looked up, just in time to see the shackles and chains dissolve from the Heartless, just before the latter began to disappear in a display of black flames and smoke.

Sora felt a great wave of relief wash over him.

'_It's over, it's finally over.'_ That was all that Sora could think as pain and exhaustion took their toll, and his vision faded to black.

* * *

The group finally arrived at the Castle Chapel after going through a series of stairs, lifts, and passages. Through their long trek upwards there had been no signs of the last light fragment, but to most it had come as no surprise. They all knew where the last fragment was. And although they were trying to get there as fast as possible, none were all that eager to arrive. How could they, especially knowing what awaited for them there.

Everyone could also note an uneasy air about them. After Roxas had told them that he could no longer feel Sora, a wave of panic washed over the group. And even though everyone had the chance to calm down, an air of uneasiness remained. The fact that Roxas was now disconnected from Sora didn´t necessarily mean that Sora was lost to them. Merlin had, after all, told them they had little less than a week. But, it didn´t mean it was necessarily a good sign. If anything, it could only mean that Sora's condition was worsening.

Kairi took a glance towards Roxas and frowned. He looked tense, tired, and worried. His brows were furrowed, his eyes were glazed over in thought, and he was nervously biting his lower lip. She had never considered how Sora's condition would affect Roxas. In reality, she would have never imagined that it would affect him that much.

They hadn't known each other for long, and it was no secret that their initial meeting wasn't on the best of terms. Not that he was at fault; anyone being forced to give up their whole being because they were nobodies would react that way. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Roxas held a part of Sora, even though he was unaware of it at first, the connection was always there. Having Sora suddenly leave him must have been like literally losing a part of him, one that he had always had. Not only that but during their short time together they had grown close; they were like brothers only closer.

_'Just like Naminé and I became like sisters, they became like brothers.' _Kairi thought. Naminé, noticing how she was looking at Roxas, turned and looked at her in similar worry.

Kairi then realized something she hadn't thought of before. Usually when Naminé was outside of her, they never really got too far away from each other. When they did it made them feel uncomfortable, like there was an invisible strain on their beings. The further away they got from each other, the worse it became, to the point it was almost unbearable. But what could that strain be doing to both Sora and Roxas right now. Roxas was still in that state and it would explain why he looked so tired. Was it then really a good idea for him to come and stray so far away from Sora?

Then there was another factor none of them considered. With Sora gone, what would happen to Roxas? Technically, he wasn't a Nobody anymore. Would Roxas become one if Sora became a Heartless? Would another Nobody be born from it? Would Roxas disappear? It was impossible to know, since having a person lose their heart twice was unheard of.

As if on cue, Roxas seemed to trip and fall to the ground. For a moment she could have sworn she saw his form flicker, but she passed it off as her imagination, or even her paranoia. Riku turned towards the blonde and offered him his hand. Roxas thanked him, but shook his head and got up on his own as if nothing had happened. And even though he tried to pass it off as him 'not paying attention', Kairi could see some worry in his eyes.

Kairi had no time to ponder any of this because once she turned to look at the path before them, she noticed that they were already there. Past the entrance, and through a grand hallway was the place where Sora's light fragment would be. It was the same place where Maleficent had once tried to use her and the other princesses of the heart to open the Door to Darkness, the same place where Sora had once lost his heart.

The place remained unchanged except for a thick layer of dust that covered everything, including the carpet that covered the floor, which used to be purple and red with a large heartless symbol, but its colors and shapes were now indistinguishable from each other. The blue fires that used to light the hall were no longer alight, making the place look older and darker than ever before. The group made their up the stairs and to their right after the fork, reaching the raised platform where large brass pipes ran along, forming the heart-shaped keyhole that now lay sealed and dormant.

Sure enough, a ball of light floated over a spot in the center of the platform, right before the keyhole. Kairi slowly approached the ball of light. It was in the exact same place where Sora had vanished in her arms after using the dark Keyblade to unlock his heart. It had been so long, and so many things happened to them since that time. And now, she once again looked onto a familiar scene, once that had shaped her into becoming a stronger person. It was all so eerily bizarre, especially when she realized how the events that took place that day, forever changed their future. Had this never happened, Naminé and Roxas would have never existed, the events at Castle Oblivion wouldn't have happened, Organization XIII may have never come so close to destroying the worlds, and Sora wouldn't be in this danger right now.

She took a breath, preparing herself for the rush of emotions that was sure to come, to her side, Riku nodded at her in a reassuring way. She extended the charm in her hand, doubt starting to plague her thoughts. Would Sora vanish in her arms this time? The light grew intense as once again a series of emotions were played through their beings, while voices echoed in their heads.

_Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!_

_You... You're not Riku._

_Give him back his heart!_

_The princess's heart is responding. It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you!_

_Who are you?_

_It is I, Ansem, the seeker of darkness._

_Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!_

_Forget it! There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!_

_The Keyhole's not finished yet!_

_A Keyblade that unlocks people's hearts... I wonder._

_Sora... Sora!_

_What's... What's happening to me? Falling...falling...into darkness._

_The Heartless are coming!_

_Sora. You did it._

_Once the worlds are restored, they'll be separate again._

_Everyone will go back to where they came from._

_We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other._

_No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again._

_Sora, good luck._

Once the light had faded, everyone stood in silence, their hearts touched by their friend's memories. Kairi and Naminé had broken down in happy tears, even Donald and Goofy had joined. Riku stood stoically, though his face was obscured by his silvery locks of hair. Roxas stood in awe. Not only because he had just experienced Sora's memories at the exact moment of his own birth. He had heard what happened and even seen the memories in his dreams, but feeling it was a completely different experience. Seeing what Sora had gone through made him feel great admiration towards the brunette. Even after experiencing the horrible feeling of becoming a Heartless, Sora still fought the creatures on a day to day basis, knowing that his failure may once again turn him into one. Indeed Sora had to be the most selfless person he knew. Some might even think he was an idiot for risking so much for others. But Roxas knew the truth; the brunette simply had a heart of gold, the heart of a real hero.

Roxas was abruptly brought out of his musings as he saw that the others had enough time to compose themselves and had decided to leave quickly since they still had to get out of the castle and find a way to their next destination. Kairi held up her charm and it now had one of its five shells completely filled with light and pulsing brightly. Roxas smiled and absently rubbed his cheek as he felt something cold slide down over it. It was then Roxas realized that it was an unwiped tear that was left to dry.

As the group proceeded to leave the Bastion, Roxas allowed himself to muse further. In the castle he had felt such unease, especially after he stopped feeling Sora. Later on, he both remembered and felt the strain of being away from Sora in this form, and he had become horrified at the realization that he may been at fault for the disconnection since he had strayed away from the brunette. Yet after the events at the Great Hall, he had felt strangely at peace. Going through that memory had made him feel so much better and renewed for some reason, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Going through that memory also made him realize what good friends Sora had. Even though he kept putting his life on the line, his friends would always be there for him no matter what. Roxas knew how important those friends were. During his time in Organization XIII, he was lucky to have two of them, two friends that, although gone, would stay forever close to his heart.

By the time Roxas was snapped out of his musings, he realized that the group had now exited Ansem's study and that the sun was already starting to set. The sky was now a palette of reds, yellows, and oranges that reminded him dearly of his friends and the tower were they would eat ice cream. Yet clearly of out place, was a large gummi ship currently parked at the postern. It was rather odd compared to the usual gummi ship, since it was elongated and its exterior was metallic rather than colorful. On the ship's hull was the name "SHERA", which Roxas found quite odd.

"T' was about time you got here!" A voice shouted. Looking towards the source of the voice, the group found Cid leaning against the railing while smoking a cigarette.

"Cid? What are you doing here?" King Mickey asked.

"I asked him to come." Another voice said. Everyone then saw Leon jump from the ship to stand in front of them. "So I assume you found all the light fragments."

Kairi showed both men the charm, to which Leon nodded in response.

"Good, I know we are short on time, that's why I asked Cid to come. Your ship is currently under repairs so Cid will be taking you to your next destination. Besides, I doubt you'll be able to find a…faster pilot." Leon said, though everyone noticed the slight wince when Leon said faster.

"It'll be Shera's first official flight, she's probably the fastest ship y'all ever fly in." Cid said with pride.

"Guess we are set then." Riku said.

"But, where to next?" Donald squawked.

"Well, Merlin said it had to be an important place for Sora." Kairi said.

"Hmm, it's a bit hard since Sora seems to make an impression wherever he goes." King Mickey said.

"Gwarsh, what about Traverse Town, that's where we first met him. That's also where we met Leon and everybody, ahy-uk." Goofy said.

"That does sound good." King Mickey said, everyone else agreed too.

"There is something else I should tell you too." Leon said. "After you left, Sora came down with an intense fever, we don't know exactly why, but he was also twitching. It could mean that his body is starting to fight the darkness, but it may also be a sign that he is getting worse. Aerith called me a while back to tell me his symptoms have suddenly stopped so for now he is safe, but we don't know if it may happen again and if it does, whether it will be worse. I'll stay here and keep you guys updated. "

"Thanks for telling us, if that´s the case we should really get going then." King Mickey said. "Come on everyone, let's board!"

"**Wait!"** Roxas said, just as the group was about to turn. **"I think I should stay here in Radiant Garden. I think coming to the castle was a big mistake. When I came here. I didn't consider that being away from Sora strains both of us. It could be my fault that Sora got worse. In any case. I can't leave this world. I'll stay with Sora."**

"**Roxas…"** Naminé said in a concerned way. She could clearly see that Roxas blamed himself for what had happened. It was an honest mistake, even she had forgotten about the strain.

"**Don't worry. You guys take care and make sure you get back here as soon as possible." **Roxas said. Everyone nodded and after bidding Roxas farewell, they boarded the ship.

"All right then. Cid?" Leon said, catching the pilot's attention. "Don't kill them."

"We'll see." Cid gruffly replied switching on the engines and then taking off.

Roxas and Leon stood side by side as they saw the ship fly into the sunset at great speeds and disappear from view. After a moment, a peaceful kind of silence followed as both males admired the colors of setting sun. Watching how the soft rays from the sun reflected off the clouds making them look like molten gold seemingly made them forget all their problems. After a while, Leon was the one to break the silence.

"Don't blame yourself over what happened, there's nothing you can do to change that, and I'm sure Sora wouldn't hold it against you either." Leon said. Seeing the transparent blonde, so alike and yet so different to Sora, look so troubled, unsettled him greatly. It made him want to quickly comfort him, even though he wasn't all that good at it.

Roxas looked at him a little oddly, a bit surprised since Leon didn't seem like the type that would say something like that. But despite that, he offered a smile. **"Thanks."**

Indeed, Sora had found some very good friends.

* * *

**Crystal: *sniffle* "Roxas needs a hug, and Sora...well he needs the whole package."**

**Canis: "Yep, and I'm not even done with him yet. Well, here ends the official chapter, though I did add a sneak preview like in previous chapters. Be warned that it is a cliffy! That's why I'm giving you all the choice to either read it now or in the next chapter. But before that, there are a couple of things I need to go over. Firstly, some of you may have noticed a slight 358/2 reference here, the question is: Should I add direct references (as in 'not vague') to other KH games after KH2? I'm not thinking about adding new characters from the other games, just references. And I'm not sure about Birth by Sleep references, since it hasn't been out for long, but most likely some from 358/2 days. I personally haven't played it, but she has *points to Crystal*, so she will help me keep it accurate if those references do appear."**

**Crystal: "Oh yey, I love that trio!"**

**Canis: "Yep, I know you do. Now secondly, as you have seen in this chapter, I gave Roxas a slight brother-like attitude towards Sora. I just think it's a bit logical that they would become closer since they have shared more and spent more time together. Either way, I would really like to know you opinions about this. I would also like to know what you think about the RoxasXNaminé pairing, and whether it should happen or not."**

**Crystal: "Update soon, don't give me a heart attack with the corrections, and I'm good till next chapter."**

**Canis: "Ok, I think that's all. If you could all just send your answers in the reviews, that would help A LOT. I would also appreciate regular feedback and comments too, anything to help my writing. Reviews also push me to write faster. Anyways, without further ado, I present to you the sneak peak. Just scroll to the bottom if you don't want to see it.**

**Canis and Crystal: "Until next time!"**

* * *

Sora felt his consciousness drift lazily like the second before waking up from a long dream. His mind was at the moment a sluggish hazy mess, completely unaware of everything around him or even himself. It was like his brain was shut off and thus unable to process anything. All he knew was the darkness that surrounded him.

Slowly, bit by bit, his mind became more aware. The first thing he realized was that he was feeling much better than he had felt over a long time, in fact, he felt great. The second thing he noticed was that he was laying on something extremely warm and comfortable. The third thing he noticed was that the darkness surrounding him was really due to the fact that his eyes were closed. He groggily tried to open his eyes only to be temporarily blinded by a bright light.

The light was enough to force his system into waking up. As he did, his senses began to feed him with new information. The pleasant movement of waves and the cries of seagulls flooded his ears in an island melody. His nose was flooded by the salty smell of sea. His exposed fingers felt the warm, thin sand cushioning him. He could also feel the warm kisses of the sun against his exposed skin. As his vision focused, he was able to make out a familiar sea. It was all like a familiar lullaby that calmed his spirit.

'_Where am I, and how did I get here?'_ Sora thought groggily to himself. Taking another look around, this time he noticed the smaller island with a crooked palm like tree with odd star shaped fruits. _'Wait, this is home. What am I doing here? What happened?'_

With his mind now free from haze of sleep, he quickly began to search for the answer, causing Sora to be assaulted by a wave of memories that almost overwhelmed him.

'_The Heartless! I beat it, but what happened afterwards?I-I couldn´t have make it out!' _Sora asked himself clearly in panic.

"Hey Sora!" Called a voice. Sora looked up in relief after recognizing Kairi's voice. But what met his eyes almost made his heart stop. "There you are you lazy bum! Are you gonna come or what? I thought you wanted to race."

Sora could only gap dumbly at the sight before him. In front of him, wearing a white top and purple skirt was Kairi, but not the Kairi he last saw in Radiant Garden. No, this was a younger Kairi, exactly like he remembered her from before their journey started.

"Hey, are you okay?" Younger Kairi asked. Sora only nodded, too stunned to do anything else. "Maybe you should stay out of the sun for a while. Anyways Riku and I are gonna be at the other side of the island, if you need anything just tell us alright?"

Younger Kairi left, leaving behind a stunned Sora. Sora simply sat there in complete shock. He could feel his erratic breathing and his heart beating rapidly within his chest. Maybe he was just under too much stress and this was all a dream. Maybe he really had been too long under the sun.

"Ugh! What's going on!" Sora cried out, but as soon as he finished he stopped. A completely stunned look plastered in his face. "M-my voice."

The pitch was much higher than he remembered. He brought a hand up to his throat and quickly noticed something was off. He was wearing fingerless gloves, but they weren't his usual black and yellow ones, these were white and blue. Then he noticed the rest of himself and realized he was wearing different clothes and was much _smaller_. He was wearing yellow shoes, a red jumpsuit with a blue belt and a crown themed chain, white and black short sleeved hoodie covering him. His crown necklace was the only thing that remained the same.

_'My old clothes!'_ Sora thought in alarm. A foreboding feeling invaded Sora as his looked as his gloved hand.

Sora tumbled to his feet, and catching sight of the ocean, he ran there, tripping twice on his way over. Once there, he looked at his reflection almost fearing what he would find. And sure enough, staring right back at him was a younger, darker haired version of his own distraught face.

"What happened to me?"

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Did you know reviews make writters very happy? :D

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	13. Conundrum

**Chapter 13: Conundrums**

**Canis here, updating once again when you least expect it! You can blame the tardiness of this chapter on a lot of things. Firstly I got addicted to Birth by Sleep and FFIX (at the same time, which makes a very dangerous combination), and secondly, I have some course work and university applications I've had to take care of. The reason I've pushed myself to update today was mainly since it's my birthday and I wanted to give you all a treat.**

**Oh and since no one answered by question last chapter, I've decided to include references from other KH games, probably nothing big though.**

**Disclaimer: Yo no soy la dueña de Kingdom Hearts, es propiedad de Disney y Square Enix!**

* * *

It was the perfect sunset. The way the clouds filtered the sun, making them shine like liquid gold. The way the sky became alive with purples, reds, and yellows. The way the light from the shining sun made the buildings glow like flames. It was simply breathtaking, and made every fiber of his being feel alive. He could honestly say he had never seen anything so beautiful in his short existence. It made everything else seem so trivial. And as he sat at the top of the clock tower, ice cream temporarily forgotten in his hand, Roxas knew he couldn´t be happier…

Though, Nobodies weren´t supposed to have feelings, were they?

"Hey, Roxas. Bet you don't know why the sun sets red." His companion said.

Roxas looked at his red headed friend questioningly.

"You see, light is made up of lots of colors. And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest." Axel answered smugly.

**"Like I asked! Know-it-all." **Roxas laughed, while elbowing him playfully.

The time he spent at the top of the clock tower after missions was really one of the only things he ever looked forward to. Yet there was a certain part of him that told him that something wasn't quite right. In truth his mind felt somewhat hazy, as if his brain had been replaced with cotton, and everything felt so wonderful it was almost too good to be true. Yet he decided to ignore that little voice inside his head. As the saying went; Ignorance was bliss.

Roxas took another bite of his sea salt ice-cream, closing his eyes as the salty sweet flavor danced in his mouth. Axel did the same thing right next to him, before lying down on his back with his arms crossed behind his head. The blonde shifted his gaze back to the warm sunset suddenly thinking about how oddly bright Axel's hair looked in this light; the exact same color of the sky. It was so unreal.

'_**Now if only she were here, then it would be perfect.'**_ Roxas thought wistfully.

"Roxas"

Roxas was stirred from his thoughts as he heard the somewhat distorted male voice. He looked around to find the source, but other than Axel, there was no one there.

"Roxas"

It repeated with more insistence, this time he felt a numb weight on his shoulder, but once he looked at it there was nothing there except for the familiar black fabric of his organization cloak. Roxas turned towards his friend and deep blue met emerald colored eyes with confusion. The red head broke his gaze and frowned, as if knowing what was happening.

"ROXAS!"

The blonde saw his world blur and distort as he felt his mind begin to clear. The buildings at the edge of his vision had faded and disappeared to be replaced with darkness, Roxas he knew he would be joining them too. Yet a part of him did not want to leave his perfect place. Here he was free to be with his friends and watch the sunset, without any problems or worries.

Roxas felt a tear roll down his cheek as realization took hold of him. None of his friends would be there on the other side. Axel, seeing his friend's reaction, gave a sad smile and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright, as long as we don't forget each other; we will never be truly gone." Axel said while ruffling the blonde's spiky hair. "Got it memorized?"

Then Roxas felt it. A familiar presence made itself known to him, as he felt a pair of arms hug him from behind. He turned his head to look, but the figure's features were concealed within a blinding display of light. It didn't matter though, because Roxas's suspicions were confirmed when, for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Roxas heard her voice; a voice he had never imagined he would ever hear again.

"It's time to wake up now Roxas, but don't be sad, we'll be together again someday."

"**X-Xion!"** Roxas stuttered, getting just a single glimpse of the raven haired girl standing next to Axel, before the whole world faded to black and his dream ended.

* * *

It was already dark out when Leon had come to check on their patient, and well, also their most recent guest. After they came back, they were surprised to find the brunette not twitchy and feverish, but once again in that unmoving coma-like state. The meaning of such thing however was completely lost to him. He had left a while ago leaving the former nobody to look after the brunette. Although he didn´t think anything would happen considering Sora´s current state, he did not want to take chances. They had even gone as far as making Tron set an alarm that would warn them if something happened to Sora.

Yet with all his worrying about Sora, he completely forgot about some of his most basic needs, like food and water. Since Aerith had already gone to bed after hours and hours of watching after Sora, the task of preparing food for himself and Roxas had fallen unto him. That´s why he'd come back with a tray laden with sandwiches and some drinks. Though, he had to admit he wasn't sure if the blonde could even eat in that state.

Yet once inside the house, Leon was surprised to find the former Nobody asleep next to Sora on an uncomfortable wooden chair. Leon was even more surprised to see the blonde murmuring softly, a telltale sign that he was dreaming. It was amazing how sleep seemed to soften his features and make him look younger and at peace. He honestly regretted having to wake him up, but it really would be best if he got something to eat, since the last thing he remembered eating was a small breakfast that same morning. And in any case, he was sure that the blonde would regret sleeping on that chair. His own back hurt just thinking about it.

"Roxas." Leon called softly, so he didn't startle the blonde kid.

Leon waited for a moment for a reaction but when none came he called again, a little louder this time.

"Roxas." This time Leon laid a hand on his right shoulder and shook it gently.

It felt a little odd trying to wake up a person that he had just recently met and wasn't all that familiar with. Well technically he had been there since the beginning of their last adventure, but no one was really aware of that. To make manners worse he had never been that good at this kind of thing, he was better at it than Cloud though, which was really his only consolation. But the only teens he had ever had to wake up were Yuffie and Sora whenever he visited. He could only wish that Roxas wasn't like Sora when it came to sleeping, the kid could sleep through _anything_.

"ROXAS!" Leon called, all traces of patience lost.

He almost immediately regretted it.

That did effectively wake Roxas up, however the minute he awoke he had one of the saddest looks Leon had ever seen on a person. The brunette was even sure he saw a tear trail down his cheek before the blonde wiped it off as if pretending to be rubbing the sleep off his eyes. Leon was sure he could have asked him what was wrong. Heck, he may have been able to do something about it, but instead he decided to leave it at that. He didn't want to pry into the blondes business, he didn't know him well enough, and most importantly he really didn't want to make Roxas feel uncomfortable.

"Sorry to wake you but I thought you'd be hungry." Leon said as if nothing happened, while pointing at the tray of food.

Roxas seemed a little surprised, but surprisingly grateful that the brunette had let the subject drop.

"**Thanks."** Roxas said as he grabbed a sandwich and began munching on it slowly. Although he was hungry, he just couldn't stop from thinking about the dream he had.

Leon also grabbed a sandwich and began to eat it once he sat down. Neither spoke to each other as they ate in a silence that could only be classified as 'awkward'. In reality they both had their minds preoccupied with something else, and well, they weren't very talkative people to begin with either.

Leon was the first to break the mutual silence as he got up and took the now empty tray.

"Anyways, if you need to rest you can use the guest rooms in the building outside. They aren't that far and I'm sure they will be more comfortable than that chair." The swordsman said as he opened the door to leave.

Roxas looked surprised, but gave a small nod since he was still slowly but surely finishing his food. He wasn't sure if he would be able to fall asleep again. If he did, would he dream of his friends again?

"Goodnight." Leon said with a nod before closing the door and heading out into the night.

Roxas sat there tasting that word on his tongue. Before Sora became aware of him, he had never been wished a 'goodnight'. He had been wished a 'good morning' by his friends, and well, he had been told many painful 'goodbyes' as well. Yet it became a small new routine, since Sora never fell asleep without wishing him a goodnight first. Also, during his days in Organization XIII, he became aware that there was no room for comfort within the member's lives. He always slept in a small and plain room, on an equally uncomfortable bed. That's why he was surprised when Leon had shown concern for him, a person he barely even met.

**"Goodnight."** Roxas said smiling.

Small gestures sometimes made the biggest differences.

* * *

Riku had always considered himself to be a calm and somewhat mature person, especially compared to his two friends. As a kid, he prided himself in being the undefeatable champion, the one person all kids wished they could surpass one day. He wasn´t just good at fighting either, his mind was just as sharp too. That coupled with being the oldest made him the guy kids turned to when looking for answers. And though a lot of things had changed since those blissful days, there was one thing that never changed, one thing that most people didn´t know about him;

He _was not_ the kindest person when woken up.

That´s why when he woke up to a series of angry squawks from Donald, who had apparently gotten in an argument with Goofy, he was seriously considering to bring out Way to the Dawn right there and then. It wasn´t that he hated mornings, he just hated being woken up. It was something that Sora had to learn the hard way.

The only thing that stopped him from getting his revenge on the duck was the sudden lurch that made him fall out of his seat. Thankfully, Riku was able to put his arms before him just before the ground greeted his face. Riku glared at the offending floor as he got up. He stretched his stiff back, slowly working out the kinks, and after looking around and recognizing one of the ship´s rooms, he grudgingly decided it was time to get up and left through the door, but not before he directed a final glare that froze the Disney duo.

He had to constantly lean on walls or risk falling from the sudden turns the ship made. In retrospect, it was really a wonder he managed to sleep with Cid driving. Even if he didn´t sleep for long and sleeping on that seat was really uncomfortable. Being as tired as he was, he could have slept anywhere. The same probably applied to his companions.

Once he finally made it to the large control room, Riku was greeted by the sight of Cid and King Mickey. Mickey seemed to be in a middle of a discussion with Cid, while said blonde seemed to have no problems to keep up his part of the conversation, while driving the ship at what looked like breakneck speeds, and at the same time lighting the cigarette in his mouth. Needless to say Riku didn´t know if he should have been amazed at the feat or terrified for his life.

"Hey, morning sleepin beauty." Cid said as he pocketed his lighter.

"Oh, goodmornin Riku." Mickey waved once he caught sight of him. "We'll be arriving at Traverse Town in a while. I was thinking it would be best to eat a quick breakfast before leaving so could you go get everyone else?"

Riku glared at the pilot but gave a small nod, and left to find the others.

It was gonna be a long day.

* * *

Sora felt his consciousness drift lazily like the second before waking up from a long dream. His mind was at the moment a sluggish hazy mess, completely unaware of everything around him or even himself. It was like his brain was shut off and thus unable to process anything. All he knew was the darkness that surrounded him.

Slowly, bit by bit, his mind became more aware. The first thing he realized was that he was feeling much better than he had felt over a long time, in fact, he felt great. The second thing he noticed was that he was laying on something extremely warm and comfortable. The third thing he noticed was that the darkness surrounding him was really due to the fact that his eyes were closed. He groggily tried to open his eyes only to be temporarily blinded by a bright light.

The light was enough to force his system into waking up. As he did, his senses began to feed him with new information. The pleasant movement of waves and the cries of seagulls flooded his ears in an island melody. His nose was flooded by the salty smell of sea. His exposed fingers felt the warm, thin sand cushioning him. He could also feel the warm kisses of the sun against his exposed skin. As his vision focused, he was able to make out a familiar sea. It was all like a familiar lullaby that calmed his spirit.

'_Where am I, and how did I get here?'_ Sora thought groggily to himself. Taking another look around, this time he noticed the smaller island with a crooked palm like tree with odd star shaped fruits. _'Wait, this is home. What am I doing here? What happened?'_

With his mind now free from the haze of sleep, it quickly began to search for the answer, causing Sora to be assaulted by a wave of memories that almost overwhelmed him.

'_The Heartless! I beat it, but what happened afterwards?I-I couldn´t have made it out!' _Sora asked himself clearly in panic.

"Hey Sora!" Called a voice. Sora looked up in relief after recognizing Kairi's voice. But what met his eyes almost made his heart stop. "There you are you lazy bum! Are you gonna come or what? I thought you wanted to race."

Sora could only gap dumbly at the sight before him. In front of him, wearing a white top and purple skirt was Kairi, but not the Kairi he last saw in Radiant Garden. No, this was a younger Kairi, exactly like he remembered her from before their journey started.

"Hey, are you okay?" Younger Kairi asked. Sora only nodded, too stunned to do anything else. "Maybe you should stay out of the sun for a while. Anyways, Riku and I are gonna be at the other side of the island, if you need anything just tell us alright?"

Younger Kairi left, leaving behind a stunned Sora. Sora simply sat there in complete shock. He could feel his erratic breathing, and his heart beating rapidly within his chest. Maybe he was just under too much stress and this was all a dream. Maybe he really had been too long under the sun.

"Ugh! What's going on!" Sora cried out, but as soon as the words left his mouth he stopped. A completely stunned look plastered on his face. "M-my voice!"

The pitch was much higher than he remembered. He brought a hand up to his throat and quickly noticed something was off. He was wearing fingerless gloves, but they weren't his usual black and yellow ones, these were white and blue. Then he noticed the rest of himself and realized he was wearing different clothes and was much _smaller_. He was wearing yellow shoes, a red jumpsuit with a blue belt and a crown themed chain, a white and black short sleeved hoodie covering him. His crown necklace was the only thing that remained the same.

'My old clothes!' Sora thought in alarm. A foreboding feeling invaded Sora as his looked at his gloved hand.

Sora tumbled to his feet, and catching sight of the ocean, he ran there, tripping twice on his way over. Once there, he looked at his reflection almost fearing what he would find. And sure enough, staring right back at him was a younger, darker haired version of his own distraught face.

"What happened to me?" Sora cried out, his worries now turned into a full blown panic attack.

'_This can't be, there's just no way! It's a dream right? It has to be!' _Sora quickly pinched himself in the arm but winced at the ensuing pain. It was most definitely _not_ a dream. "I must be going insane."

'Well, first thing´s first. Must breath.' Sora thought once he realized that he was holding his breath and that black spots were starting to overcome his vision. After a series of long deep breaths, Sora managed to clear his head, if even a little, and to slow his frantic heart rate.

The brunette sighed as he looked at the vast expanse of sea before him. The ocean, the sun, the trees, the wind, the birds, even the sand beneath his feet was just too real. His senses remembered everything too well for this to be fake. And even then, he was just way too aware of everything, every tiny detail, for it to be a dream.

"But if this isn't a dream, then what is it? It just can't be reali-" Sora muttered to himself but his train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a familiar shout.

"Yo watch out man!"

But the warning came too late, because the next thing Sora knew was that he had a face full of sand and a growing bump on his head where he was struck.

"Oh man, that must've hurt." Another voice called as Sora heard muffled footsteps approach him.

"Hey Sora, you ok?"

Sora groaned as he righted himself so that he now sat on the sand. He gently rubbed his head, and tried to spit out the sand that got in his mouth. He then looked down at the white and blue ball that was now lying innocently on the sand. It was definitely harder than it looked. At that moment he remembered he wasn´t alone and he let his gaze fall on the two individuals before him.

"Tidus! Wakka!" Sora called in surprise.

Surely enough, the two younger versions of his friends stood before him. Wakka offered his hand to help him up which Sora took, still in a bit of shock.

Wakka was a carefree youth, older than himself with tanned skin, brown eyes, and unique orange hair that stood proudly as an enormous coif. He wore green sandals, yellow baggy pants with black 'X' patterns on each knee, pale yellow tank top, blue wristbands, and a blue head band.

Tidus on the other hand was like everyone´s energetic kid brother. Just like Wakka, he had a love for games and sports, but unlike him, he lacked the ability to sit still. He was slightly shorter than him, with sun kissed skin, blue eyes, sandy blonde hair, and a small scar in his right cheek. He wore yellow and grey sandals, an open yellow and white short sleeved shirt, and a pair of blue pants that had one leg cut shorter than the other.

"Hey Sora, you ok?" Tidus asked, noticing Sora's expression.

"O-oh, I'm fine." Sora bluffed.

"Are you sure, you look kinda sick ya?" Wakka said.

"You didn't fall asleep under the sun AGAIN did you?" Tidus asked jokingly.

"N-no I didn't!" Sora said, as he tried with all his might to hide his embarrassment. Well maybe he did, but that wasn't the reason he was like this, and besides, they certainly didn't need to know that.

"Well, he doesn't look like he has a heatstroke. As long as he didn't get stung by a flarefish it's ok ya?" Wakka said with a laugh.

'_Flarefish?'_ Sora thought. It somehow sounded a bit familiar.

"Oh yeah, that's the poisonous fish right, the one that messes your head up?" Tidus asked the older boy.

"Ya, legend says that the fish has this toxin that makes your head go all funny. People sometimes wake up washed up on the beach and they start saying all sorts of crazy things. That is, _if_ they survive the toxin." Wakka said as he scratched his chin in thought.

'_Might it…could it be that maybe I was stung?'_ Sora mused. Yet he quickly dismissed the idea, it would mean denying everything that happened, and everyone he met.

"Wow, that would be pretty cool though." Tidus said.

"Nah, I think I pass." Wakka said as he picked the white and blue ball from the ground.

"TIDUS! WAKKA! WHERE ARE YOU!"

"Oh man, we forgot about Selphie. She's gonna kill us!" Tidus said, worry evident in his expression.

"Ya, we should get going." Wakka said. "Take care, ok Sora?"

"See ya around!" Tidus said before the duo took off.

Sora stood silently for a few minutes, his mind was going over the previous conversation. Wakka´s words had struck him to the core, leaving behind quite the dilemma. Could he have fabricated his adventures under the influence of that so called toxin? Or maybe the world he was experiencing now was an illusion. Yet everything felt real. He had never really thought about what made something real, usually he could only tell a dream from reality once he woke up. And even then there were cases where he just wasn´t sure himself. But then, if those memories were real, whatever happened after that supposed fight with that heartless? Could it be that maybe he died and this was the afterlife? Or maybe he was sent to the past, right before his first adventure took place? Did he have a way to get out or was he stuck?

Would it be so bad to stay here?

Sora shook his head at the sudden thought, wondering where it came from. He had friends he had to get back to, he couldn´t stay. Donald, Goofy and King Mickey probably had no idea what happened, but Riku and Kairi must be worried sick. Sora suddenly realized something else. He could neither hear nor feel Roxas. The former nobody was gone without a trace from within the depths of his mind. It felt like his heart was now missing a piece, but more than that he felt lonely. Although the blonde had a personality quite different than his own, and likely hated him at first, he felt they had gotten real close during their time together. More than his 'other', Roxas had become a friend. It actually made him feel bad for not realizing he was gone sooner.

Even if there was a chance he never existed?

Sora once again shook his head at the surprising thought. Roxas wasn't an imaginary friend. He was as real as any other friend of his.

Then, what about the ones waiting at the other side of the island?

Sora's thoughts were jerked back to the younger Kairi that greeted him earlier. She was just like he remembered Kairi, her hair, her eyes, her voice, even her smell were the same. Then, how could she possibly be an illusion? Sora closed his eyes. He really had no way of knowing what was real or not at the moment. Maybe it was best if he went to the other side of the island to meet her and 'Riku'.

With that thought in mind, Sora opened his eyes and took a deep breath as he left towards the other side of the island. Although his heart told him that his friends and his adventures were real, Wakka's words managed to sow the first seeds of doubt, seeds that with time would grow into something more dangerous.

Sure Heartless could be slain with a keyblade, but what could ever destroy an idea?

* * *

Kairi looked behind her as the other members of their group began to disembark 'Shera'. Cid had stayed behind to rest while they promised to make it back as soon as they got all the fragments in this world. As the group walked past the entrance gate, they were met with the sight of cobblestone streets, Victorian style buildings, bright neon lights, and an eternally dark sky lined with many shining stars. They had finally made in to Traverse Town.

Everyone was more than thankful to be on solid ground again, even Naminé who was now catching up on some sleep in the safety of their shared mind. She was honestly surprised that they had survived that trip since Cid´s driving skills were nothing short of terrifying. She was already cringing at the thought of having to board the ship once more.

"So where to now?" She asked the group as it proceeded to walk on the cobblestone streets.

"Well we have to look for places that Sora would consider important. We know for a fact that Traverse Town was the first world Sora visited once the islands vanished." Riku said.

"So the fragments of light could either be in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd districts." Donald squawked.

"Gawrsh Donald, don't forget about Merlin's house." Goofy added.

"Yeah, that too. Thankfully, Traverse Town isn't all that big." Mickey said.

"That's true, but we can't search through every nook and cranny, we are still on a timer. There has to be an easier way." Riku said as he crossed his arms.

"What if we just ask around, ahyuck." Goofy said shocking everyone else. He too had his moments of brilliance.

"He's right! I mean, in a town as populated as this one, someone must have seen at least one of the lights right?" Kairi said.

That thought in mind, everyone headed to the nearest shop to ask around. Unfortunately the item shop was closed and neither the women from the restaurant nor the clerk from the accessory shop knew anything other than seeing strange shooting stars the day before. They didn't even bother with Geppetto and Pinocchio's house since according to what Jiminy had once told the king, they no longer lived in Traverse Town. They were about to leave the shop when they caught sight of the ladder that led to the building's second floor shop: the synthesis shop. Once at the top, the group found a middle sized room with several strange machines. There was what appeared to be a chemistry set was set up on one of the larger tables, and there were several papers and charts strewn around the room. But what surprised the group the most were the dozen moogles that seemed to be going through and organizing a pile of letters taller than the King.

"Sorry for the mess kupo, but we are working to fully reboot the Mognet mailing system." One of the moogles said as it flew towards them. "My name is Moggy kupo, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Well we really came here to ask if any of you have seen these flying balls of light around town. It's really important that we find them." Kairi said.

"Mmmm, I can't say I have kupo. I've only heard about these strange falling stars that fell a bit ago. Now that I think about it, it happened right after the system rebooted kupo. Something happened that made us lose contact with the mail carrier moogles in other worlds. I do hope they are ok. This is actually the first batch of mail we've gotten since then kupo." Moggy said while pointing a small peach colored paw at the big pile of mail. "We are still trying to get things working again. Ahh, I wish I knew what happened kupo!"

"Gawrsh, now we will have to search the whole town to help Sora." Goofy said as his head drooped in disappointment.

"Wait kupo! Did you say Sora?" Moggy asked. The other moogles seemed to perk up at that.

"Do you know Sora too?" Kairi asked.

"Sora isn't just one of our most valued customers, but a great friend to us moogles kupo." Moggy said. "Since us moogles run shops and deliveries in other worlds, we occasionally run into him too. The last time I saw him, I had to deliver that package to him in his home world, kupo."

"A package?" Kairi asked curiously. Sora never mentioned ordering a package. Had he been hiding something from her and Riku? "And what exactly was this package?"

Moggy seemed to stiffen for a moment as if in realization. "Err, I-I can't tell you kupo! We have a moogle-client confidentiality policy, kupo!"

Kairi looked at the peach colored moogle skeptically but otherwise just let it pass. They were still under a time limit and didn't have time for this.

"Well thanks for the info, but I think it's about time we get back to the search." King Mickey said as if reading her thoughts.

"Wait kupo, before you guys leave." Moggy said before he began to shuffle through seemingly random packages. Before picking up a small one, and handing it to Riku. "Take this, it's the least we can do to help Sora."

"That small thing?" Donald asked, clearly referring to the package.

"Gawrsh Donald, maybe you shouldn't uhh-" Goofy paused while scratching his head in thought. He then snapped his fingers as he recalled the saying, a grin spread out on his face. "Look a gift horse in the mouth!"

Riku lifted one of the flaps that closed the small box, giving a small peek inside. He recognized most of the small items inside, as Hi-potions and ethers, but the last item made him raise a single pale eyebrow.

"Are you sure you want to give us this." The king asked, but was caught off by Moggy who just waved a small peach paw in dismissal.

"It's alright, we are glad to help." Moggy said. "Oh and before I forget, there is this thing I heard, though I doubt it's related to what you are searching for. I heard from Mogster, who heard from the owner of the hotel in the 2nd district, who said there have been ghost haunting recently, dunno if it helps though kupo."

"We'll keep that in mind, thanks Moggy." King Mickey replied.

That said, the group gave their farewells and left the building through the second floor door on the right.

"So, do you think we should check the hotel haunting out?" Kairi asked. It was after all, the only thing they had to work with so far.

"It's got nothing to do with us. Let's not meddle, we should just keep searching." Donald squawked out.

"But Donald, it could be important! I think we should at least check it out." Goofy said pouting. "Besides, isn't err meddling what always helps us out in the end?"

"He's got a point Donald." Mickey said in a defeated smile.

"Hey, do you guys see that?" Riku said while pointing towards what looked like a small alley on the street below right the side of the building they were just in.

"See what Riku?" Kairi asked. She looked towards the alley, and even though it didn't last more than a second, Kairi was sure she saw a flicker of light and shadow.

"What was that?" Donald squawked, apparently having seen it too.

Riku and King Mickey quickly jumped over the ledge unto a few wooden crates, and then landed on the level below, with the others following close behind them.

Whatever it was, it was certainly alive and moving. Even if the group could not see anything, except for the monstrous shadow that formed in the brick wall. King Mickey signaled for the group to stop before summoning his Keyblade. The others quickly understood and brought forth their own weapons. They knew that whatever this thing was, there was a chance it could be a heartless or at the very least, would attack them. Best to be safe than sorry in any case.

With all weapons present, Goofy took the lead with his shield held in front of him to protect himself and the others should it come to that. He took a cautious step forward and quickly ducked his head under his shield as he saw the shadow shift and then jump, followed quickly with the clattering sound of metal. The 'monster' was then revealed as a large tabby dashed out of the alley, past the group, and into the streets beyond, making the group let out a collective sigh of relieve.

"Ahyuck, it was only a kitty." Goofy said with a laugh.

"Wait but then what was giving off that light?" Kairi asked. Everyone seemed to perk up at this.

The group snuck closer to the alley to get a good look inside. They were shocked to find, next to a pair of fallen trashcans, a glowing ball of light.

"Why would there be a fragment here?" Donald squawked.

"Yeah, what could be so special about this alley?" Riku pondered.

"I guess there's only one way to find out." Kairi said, as she approached the light.

She got within a few feet to it and was about to fish out her charm from her pocket when, much to everyone's surprise, the ball shifted and shot out of the alley.

"What the-" Donald squawked, before dodging out of the way as the ball whizzed past him.

"Come on, it's getting away!" Riku said, sprinting after the fragment.

Shock quickly gave way to a chase as the group ran after the speedy ball of light. They followed it past the Accessory Shop and down a set of stairs to the restaurant, making quite a commotion when Goofy tripped on his feet and desperately grabbed unto a tablecloth, which pulled it off the table making every plate, glass, and silverware that was on it to come crashing down on the ground.

With a passing apology to the shocked owner and the promise to pay for the damage, the group continued to run after the ball of light. They once again ran up the steps, and this time they headed up another series of stairs, to the side of the accessory shop, past the synthesis shop, and once again down the ledge where the alley was.

'Oh, come on!' Riku mentally yelled as he realized that the light fragment had just made them do a whole lap around the 1st District. To add insult to injury, once they reached the accessory shop again, the floating ball slowed down to a stop, making it now float lazily in front of the entrance, just like that.

Riku too came to a stop, panting at the sudden exercise. While normally he wouldn't have any problems with such a small distance, he had to admit that he wasn't exactly in his ideal state of being. The last week had been so draining, physically and mentally. His sleep hadn't been very pleasant either; he knew he probably had some killer bags under his eyes to prove that. Riku took in deep breathes to calm his adrenaline crazed heart rate while waiting for the others who had fallen behind. Soon enough, they joined him in front of the store.

"You have got to me kidding me!" Donald squawked angrily, a scowl on his face and the feathers on his head ruffled.

"That was odd, the fragments before didn't take off like that." Kairi said.

"I think it would be best if we take the light before it runs off like that again." Mickey said, he too was taking long deep breaths.

Kairi gave a quick nod before once again approaching the floating fragment, this time with her charm in hand. The ball of light approached her slowly and then began to glow brightly like the other fragments in Radiant Garden.

_What a dream..._

_This isn't a dream!_

_I'm in another world!_

_Don't call me gramps! The name's Cid!_

_Still haven't found 'em? Keep your chin up._

_It's those creatures from the island!_

_They'll come at you out of nowhere,_

_as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade…_

Riku opened his eyes once the light was over, and the last of the emotions ran over his body like water. There was a lot of confusion, amazement, and worry. He felt partially guilty for the last, Sora never stopped looking for them during that time, yet he had accused the brunette of replacing him and Kairi with Donald and Goofy. Granted, Maleficent was the one that planted the idea, but still, he was sure those words had stung. In any case, he was glad that the memory wasn't as strong or overwhelming as the ones in Radiant Garden.

"So do we check the hotel now?" Kairi asked, snapping him from his thoughts.

Riku gave a small nod. "We ran all over the 1st District anyways, if there was another fragment here I'm sure we would have seen it already."

"Well then, let's go." Mickey said with a smile.

That being said, group made their way swiftly through the door to the 2nd District.

* * *

That same morning Roxas woke up to an unfamiliar place. Once he blinked the bleariness out of his eyes and looked around, he felt his heart race with panic at the unfamiliar setting. Realizing that he was in his transparent form and with Sora nowhere in sight, he almost lost it. He was about to bolt to the nearest exit when he caught sight of the window next to him and the view beyond. That´s when everything came back.

_**'That's right, I'm in Radiant Garden now.'**_ Roxas thought, now recognizing his surroundings as the guest room where he briefly stayed with Sora.

Deciding that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again and that he should go and check on Sora, Roxas left the room and building altogether, and then headed over to Merlin's.

"Good morning sleepy head!" A voice greeted as he entered the house.

Roxas looked at the source to find a VERY awake Yuffie, who was in the process of shoveling food into her mouth. Looking at the broader picture, Roxas found himself staring at what had to be a typical morning at the HBRC headquarters. He couldn't help but smile as he greeted them and went to join them.

Sora still slept safely on the bed, Roxas didn't know whether it was the mood or just his imagination, but Sora looked better, more peaceful even. Aerith was next to the stove, cooking breakfast, while humming a tune. Gathered around the round table were the other HBRC members, well minus Merlin who left to do some research in order to help Sora. It was overall a pretty comical sight. Leon and Cloud, who were still practically asleep and unaware of his presence, sat next to each other drinking slowly from a freshly made batch of coffee. Tifa was trying to talk to a sleepy Cloud about something, whilst throwing small glares at Yuffie who seemed to be trying to steal food from her plate as well. Cid was calmly sipping tea, only stopping occasionally to tell Yuffie to 'sit down and shut up'.

Roxas had to admit that when they sat down together like that, they looked so much like a family, albeit a very bizarre one. He stopped his musings when his stomach gave a small growl, demanding to be fed. Giving a small sigh in defeat he sat down, put some bacon, scrambled eggs and bread on his plate, and got to business.

"So Roxas, is there anything you have planned for today." Aerith asked.

Roxas just shook his head since his mouth was full. He had planned to stay here with Sora but seeing how he was stable, and under the careful watch of Tron, he doubted he would be of any use. In fact, he was probably going to bore himself to oblivion. What's worse is that he couldn't go too far away and risk worsening Sora's condition.

"Great! Then you wouldn't mind helping out a bit would you?" Aerith said cheerfully, to which Roxas shook his head in response. He didn´t really mind, it would at least give him something to occupy himself with. "Ok then, you and Leon can go together after breakfast."

So after Roxas was done, he left with Leon who was now fully awake and ready to tackle today's activities. Today they would be cleaning up a section of the town where a building and its surroundings had collapsed due to the Heartless's attack. To Roxas's relief, Leon had already closed off and evacuated the area so that no one would be there to interfere with their work, or in the blonde's case, gawk at him.

They arrived at the place which was a little ways further from the town's square. Sure enough, the place was littered with shattered glass, splintered wood, broken pipes, chunks of stone and cement, as well as blue colored rocks from the nearby cliffs that most likely fell in a landslide. While most of the houses seemed to have made it out ok, others had broken windows and missing chunks of walls, exposing several webs of plumbing. A particularly unlucky house now lay in ruins. The only piece that still stood was a small wall that was in complete shambles. Whatever force had taken down the house had also destroyed an adjacent wall revealing several more twisting pipes.

Once Leon handed the blonde a broom, both males got to work. They worked quickly and silently, stopping only to give instructions or ask questions related to the task at hand. They would each sweep a different section to divide their work, and then put the gathered bits of debris in large trash bags to be thrown away later.

Roxas didn´t mind the silence since it allowed his mind to wander off. As he swept pieces of broken brass pipes, he couldn´t help but wonder why there were so many pipes in seemingly random places. Even the large castle was practically covered in them. But why? As far as he´d seen, they had no real purpose. He supposed that the pipes were there from before the Heartless invaded all those years ago. But if that was the case and all the broken plumbing was part of a long, forgotten inner system, then just how much had this place changed since its origins? Present day Radiant Garden wasn't exactly _radiant. _A more insensitive person would have considered it a dump.

Roxas paused his sweeping to look at Leon who was just tying his last bag. The blonde noticed the brunette's somewhat stiff movements and his eyes then caught sight of a bandaged section of his arm. Suddenly, the former Nobody remembered that Leon had yet to fully recover from battle, and yet he was still working so hard.

The blonde got back to work as he swept the last of the gathered debris into a trash bag. He realized that although this place was partially in ruins, it was still considered a home by many. And even though he couldn´t really relate to them, since he never really had a particular world he called home, he still admired their efforts to rebuild.

_'**Maybe I can ask them more about Radiant Garden sometime.'**_ Roxas thought to himself as he finished tying his own bag.

"Are you done?" Leon asked him, abruptly bringing him out of his thoughts.

Roxas gave a nod.

"Alright then, let's head back." The brunette said.

They left the trash bags in a corner for them to be disposed of later, and then made their way back to Merlin's House.

* * *

The group headed straight to the hotel once they entered the shop littered streets of the 2nd District. This was mostly because other than the hotel, the only other places large enough to house a light shard were the Gizmo shop and the house where the 101 Dalmatians lived. Riku couldn't really understand what the purpose of the Gizmo shop was and he really wasn't particularly eager to get bombarded by more than a hundred playful dogs. Besides, the rumors coming from the hotel were their best bet at the moment. He just hoped it wouldn't take long.

Once they entered through the door and into the long hallway, King Mickey immediately took the lead. He rang the bell once they reached the counter and waited somewhat impatiently for someone to answer. After what seemed like an eternity, a snowy white head poked out from one of the rooms.

"Oh, hello there. We weren't expecting any customers. My name is Migelo, how may I help you?" Said the grandfatherly old man.

"Well, we were actually wondering about these ghost rumors that have been going around town." King Mickey said.

"Oh I see." Migelo said as he frowned. "Not only has it scared the townsfolk and slowed business down, but that useless nephew of mine refuses to enter the green room after the surprise it gave him. Though I can't understand what all this fuss is about, it hasn't hurt anyone so far."

"So this 'ghost', is it in the green room?" King Mickey asked.

"Yep, most of the time anyways. Thankfully not many people have seen it since no customers have stayed in that room for a while. Last person who stayed there was that poor boy that we dragged in here half dead. He had some very nasty wounds…" Migelo ranted.

"Wait, boy?" Kairi asked suddenly feeling a weight settle in the pit of her stomach. "Was his name Sora by any chance?"

"Actually yes, do you know him?" Migelo asked.

"We are actually looking for something to help him right now. He is not…doing so well." Kairi said with a small wince.

"That's why we need to see this 'ghost', do you think you could take us to it?"Riku asked, while putting a hand on Kairi's shoulder.

Migelo took in the sight before giving a nod. "Follow me."

From the hall, he led them right to a green door. He produced a golden key from his pocket and opened the door with a small 'click', rushing the group inside. As the name suggested, the green Room had quite an obvious green theme. Yet it was quite obvious that the floating, white ball of light was not part of the original design. By the way it was slowly drifting around the room; it was no wonder why people mistook it for a ghost.

'_Case closed.'_ Riku thought to himself. "Come on, let's grab it before it-"

But it was too late. In the blink of an eye, the ball dashed out the window to the balcony, and then down to the alley below.

"Come on let's go!" Riku called out, suppressing the rather violent thoughts called by his frustration.

Riku dashed out the door leading to the balcony, and once at the balcony's ledge he jumped down to the alley below, bending his knees to minimize the damage from the fall. He faintly heard Kairi thanking the old man before coming after him. He didn't even wait to see if the rest of the group followed, all that he really cared about at the moment was to follow after that light. He followed the speedy fragment through cobble stone streets and half flooded paths, wondering briefly if the others were behind him. A small crash and an angry squawk later confirmed his thoughts. Yep, they were following him.

Before he even knew it, he was following the light through a narrow, second-story ledge between some cramped buildings. His heart was now beating wildly in his chest, though his legs were begging him to end the chase. Once the light fragment flew downwards to the square below, Riku had to nearly sink his feet in the ground to stop his own momentum from pushing him down there. He let out a breath of relief. Had he blindly jumped down onto the concrete below, he was sure he would have ended up with more than just bruises.

'_Though, apparently Sora had no problems.'_ Riku thought with just a hint of amusement. _'Still, it looks like I'm gonna have to follow.' _

Riku gently lowered his body while holding onto the ledge with his arms for support. Once he had his whole body hanging over the ledge with only his hands holding him up, he let go. He knew that by shortening his fall the damage would be less. Once he felt the solid ground under his feet, he once again bent his knees, while landing on the balls of his feet, and then finishing with a cat-like crouch. He knew that this way, his arms and legs would share the brunt the fall, with his more resistant legs getting the worst. Falling this way would spare him of unnecessary damage.

Though, the same could not be said for his companions.

Riku looked on as his companions arrived, and winced as the bickering duck and dog fell from the high ledge and splat against the cobblestone, landing in a comical yet undignified heap. Mickey however fared better as he jumped and, just like Riku, landed in a crouch with (mouse-like?) grace. When it was Kairi's turn to go down, she jumped from a seated position on the ledge, and at the bottom, Riku was ready to catch her.

'_She could probably manage on her own, seeing as she has jumped from higher heights before, but I would rather not risk it.'_ Riku thought as he put her down.

"Hey look, there it is!" Goofy called as he pointed towards the wandering light fragment.

Kairi quickly took out her charm, while Riku decided to avoid taking chances and proceeded to block any possible escape routes. Just in case. Kairi held her charm out as she approached the fragment and once again, a blinding light surrounded them.

_The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade_

_Well, I didn't ask for this._

_That's why they'll keep coming after you no matter what_

_What happened to my home? My island? Riku! Kairi!_

_You'd best prepare yourself to fight for your life _

_Are you ready?_

_The key!_

_Hey, why don't you come with us? _

_We can go to other worlds on our vessel_

_I wonder if I could find Riku and Kairi..._

_Sora, go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends._

_Okay, why not? I'll go with you guys_

_Donald Duck_

_Name's Goofy_

_I'm Sora_

_All for one, one for all!_

Riku frowned when the memory finished. During that time he thought that Sora was just replacing him and Kairi. But no, instead he was just trying to find them. He even cared about them more than his own well being. And when he was told he held the power of the Keyblade, he didn't even want it! And Riku couldn't help but think how right Sora was back then, being a Keyblade wielder was tough, and sometimes it was even more of a curse than a blessing. Not only did it turn you into a trouble magnet, but also a trouble magnet that had to _solve_ those troubles.

Leaving what he now recognized as the 3rd District behind, the group walked absently back to the busy streets of the 2nd District. They were all most likely engrossed in their own thoughts. Even the Disney trio seemed to be unusually silent.

Riku too reflected over the memories he had just experienced. He finally understood why this world was so important to Sora, even though he rarely visited it. This was the beginning of his grand adventures. Everything that happened here had a huge impact in the future. And not just Sora's future either, but that of everyone connected to him.

'_Had he not gone with Donald and Goofy that day, we may have never seen each other again. And if we did, I'd most likely still be allied to Maleficent, while Kairi would have permanently lost her heart.'_ Riku thought. He was sure the others were thinking about something along these lines as well.

"So are we done in Traverse Town?" Donald asked suddenly breaking the silence.

Kairi looked at her charm, out of the five shells; one shell was shining brilliantly, while a second shell was nearly filled, but not quite there yet.

"Gawrsh, looks like there is still one more." Goofy said as he looked at the charm.

'_Just perfect.'_ Riku thought with sarcasm.

"Yeah, but where?" Donald squawked.

"Well the 1st District is out, so is the 3rd District." Mickey counted off.

"So here in the 2nd District?" Goofy asked.

"Somehow I doubt that." Riku interjected.

"Maybe it's in Merlin's old house past the 3rd District." King Mickey pondered.

"But what could be so special about that old place!" Donald argued.

'_Special…'_ Kairi thought to herself as she looked down at the charm in her hands. This charm she made was very special to her, but more than the charm itself, it was her friends that she valued the most. That's why she decided to give this charm to Sora, so that he would always return safely.

Suddenly it hit her.

"I know where the last fragment is!" Kairi said with excitement.

Without even waiting for a response, the redhead grabbed Riku's wrist and proceeded to run at full speed with the male in tow. With the rest of the group running behind her, she ran through an opened wooden door located near the decorated mural in the 2nd district. The passage led them back to the alley behind the hotel, and once there, she walked over to the half-flooded area. There, behind a 'keep out' sign and a series of chains held together by a large padlock, was the entrance to the Waterway.

Kairi quickly summoned her Keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, and with it, she unlocked the large padlock, making the chains fall from their place and into the water with a splash. Pulling aside the 'keep out' sign, she motioned for the others to follow her through the opening. The waterway itself was a narrow partially flooded stretch of cavernous tunnels that seemed to be come alive with the flickers of magically powered torches. The air had an earthly smell to it and the water was refreshingly cool on the skin. To move, they had to wade through the waist-deep waters carefully to avoid tripping and falling in completely. Kairi only hoped that what they were wading through was actually _water_. She really didn't mind the fact that her clothes were getting wet, but swimming in sewage was another thing entirely.

The tunnel eventually led to a larger area where dry, albeit mossy, ground stood sporting an exit that Kairi knew would take them back to Merlin's old house in the 3rd District. In that same area, right next to the tunnel they came from, was a straight tunnel that held a moon themed mural at its end. But the most noticeable thing in the cavern however, was the floating ball of light whose lethargic movements cast moving shadows on the mossy stones and cavernous walls.

"Looks like we have our last piece." Mickey said. "Well done Kairi!"

While Goofy and Donald chorused their congratulations, Riku smiled and gave her a playful pat on her back, which earned him an equally playful shove. Kairi once again approached the light fragment with her charm out. A brilliant light enveloped the whole cavern as the memory began to play.

_A light at the end of the tunnel..._

_I looked everywhere for you, but you were with me all along._

_You saved me, remember?_

_You brought me back_

_Even if we're apart, we're not alone anymore_

_It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me_

_Promise_

_Don't ever forget._

_Wherever you go, I'm always with you._

Kairi felt a tear roll down her cheek once the memory ended, though it wasn't out of sadness. The emotions in that memory were so overwhelming, but not in a bad way. There was just so much love and a deep desire to protect. She blushed a bit at the implications. Was that what Sora truly felt for her?

As a kid, she never saw Sora as anything more than a friend. With his goofy grin and his childish antics, he was never her definition of 'Prince Charming'. But then one day that goofy boy comes in and saves her, and then she saved him. And suddenly he is much more than the boy she knew from all those years ago.

Kairi looked down at the charm to see a pair of completely filled seashells, each radiating a strong white light.

'_Maybe once this is all over…'_ Kairi thought.

"Finally!" Donald squawked.

"Yeah, looks like it's time to move on to another world." Mickey said. "Let's head back through Merlin's old house."

The group nodded and exited the secret waterway through the nearby opening flanked by two torches. They passed a platform that seemed to magically raise the group to the floor above, leaving them inside the now empty house. To Kairi, it was really more of a hut than a house, a hut in the middle of an island in a large, submerged cavern. A set of moving stepping stones was the only path to the house though if one did fall into the water, one could easily swim back to the shore in the entrance. Donald and Goofy demonstrated that when the later tripped and dragged Donald down with him. It really made him wonder if Merlin made it like that to discourage unwanted visitors.

Once they left the cavern, they found themselves back in the 3rd District, and from there, it was as simple as going through the large gate to the 1st District and then to through the main gates to leave Traverse Town and meet up with Cid. Said pilot would probably be wondering what was taking them so long.

Once in the 1st District, Kairi gave the town a last glance before they crossed the gate and headed back to the gummi ship. It was when she saw the Accessory shop that something quickly came to her attention.

"Hey Riku." Kairi called, turning to look at the silvery haired teen.

"Hmm?" Riku replied.

"Remember the package that moogle, Moggy gave you?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Riku asked back.

"What was it anyways?" Kairi once again asked.

"Oh yeah ahyuck, you never did tell us." Goofy said.

Donald however ranted angrily about 'Cheap moogles and their small boxes'.

"Well, there is an elixir, but I don't know what to make of the rest." Riku said.

"What do you mean Riku?" King Mickey asked this time.

"See for yourselves." Riku said as he fished the package from one of his pockets, opened it, and showed it to the rest, who leaned in to take a better look.

Surely enough, there was an elixir inside, glowing in a ethereal golden light, but there was also something else. With upmost care, Kairi gently plucked the other item from its container, holding it up for everyone to see.

"What is it?" Kairi asked while looking at the curious object in her hand.

"I honestly don't know." King Mickey said, his eyes transfixed on the object too.

In Kairi's hand was a large soft scarlet feather with an unearthly golden sheen.

* * *

Sora closed his eyes as he ran his options through his head. He could either go meet his 'friends', or he could quickly take his boat, row back to the main island, run home, hide under the covers and hope everything would be back to the way it was. With a sigh, he made his way under the bridge and to the other side of the island.

"It's just never easy is it?" Sora muttered to himself, but winced once he heard his changed voice.

The moment he reached the other side of the island, he was immediately 'assaulted' by 'Kairi' who was wondering what took him so long and if he was getting sick. Sora vaguely wondered if he really looked that bad, especially since everyone he saw seemed to make mentions of it.

"That's a real shame. And here I was looking forward to our race." A sudden voice called out.

Sora quickly turned to the source of the voice only for his eyes to widen in shock. There walking calmly towards the pair was a younger Riku. He looked just like he remembered him, with shorter silver hair, yellow and black tank top-like shirt, blue pants held by suspenders and strapped to his legs at the bottom, a pair of blue and white sneakers, and of course, his cocky attitude.

"And you were so eager to settle the score too." Riku continued.

"I-I." Sora stuttered but he really couldn't find the right words at the moment. Looking at them was just so disturbing. He was finding it increasingly hard to even focus his eyes on them. But if he kept averting his gaze like this, then they would know there was something wrong with him for sure.

"I'm fine." Sora said, his eyes settling back to his friends with determination.

"Well then, shall we race?" Riku said with a mock bow.

Sora gave a nodded, his jaw set in a stubborn line. He walked right to the 'starting line', with Riku, while Kairi took out a handkerchief to use it as a makeshift flag.

"Alright then, you guys know the rules. First one to touch the star post and come back wins." Kairi said and then raised the handkerchief up high. "On your mark, get set, GO!"

The moment the redhead lowered her arm, the two boys shot out like bullets.

Sora really couldn't help but feel happy and somewhat exhilarated as the wind whipped against his face and adrenaline shot through his system. It had been such a long time since he raced. Even after he came back from his adventures, there just wasn't as much fun and games as they had when they were kids. They did have fun, just not as much. He really supposed it was a part of growing up, but still, he did feel like his duties as a Keyblade Master were at least partially responsible for this. He had practically lost a whole year after his first adventure. Being chosen had really taken a heavy toll in his life.

Sora ran up the small slope and jumped over to where the star post was, to his surprise, he was actually winning so far, though Riku was still close on his heels. With a quick pat on the yellow star, he quickly turned around and made his way back. On his way he gave Riku a triumphant smirk, inwardly laughing when he say the boy scowl. He watched his step as he ran down the slope, and then ran quickly across the beach. Sora panted as he realized that his smaller body just wasn't used to the physical exertion he usually dealt with when fighting Heartless. Yet despite the pain accumulating in his muscles, he let out a grin when he saw Kairi and the finish line in full view.

He could almost taste victory now.

With a quick look behind him, Sora realized that Riku was quickly gaining speed and catching up to him. The brunette quickened his pace as well, though his muscles protested against his actions. He was almost there! He jumped over the trick step on the bridge that was known for falling down and did the same with the second trick step. He was just about to finish crossing the bridge when disaster struck. Sora almost felt as if time slowed down as his foot got caught by a protruding plank of wood and he tripped, his body almost flying through the air. Whether it was his fatigue, or just his inexperience in this smaller body, he had no idea, but what he did know was that before he even registered what had happened, he felt the sand meet his limbs and saw a silver and blue blur leap over his fallen form and rush to the finish line.

At least he didn't get any sand in his mouth this time.

"Are you ok?" Kairi asked as she knelt over to get a good look at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sora said with a sigh as he got up and brushed the sand off his clothes.

"You know, I really thought you were gonna beat me back there." Riku said as he walked towards him. "Guess I should thank that plank."

Sora glared at the offending plank of wood that cost him the race, but otherwise just smiled. He really did have fun despite everything. It had also buried his problems in the back of his mind for now. Looking at his friends now wasn't all that awkward like before, maybe he could figure out the rest later and enjoy this while he could. And if he was so close to victory this time then next time he was almost sure to win.

"Hey guys, it's almost noon. Let's head back for lunch ok?" Kairi said as she walked towards the wooden door that separated the island halves and opened it. "Last one there is a rotten egg!"

Kairi bolted through the door leaving two startled males behind, who quickly regained their bearings and dashed after the redhead.

"Hey, no fair Kairi!" Sora found himself shouting. Riku sped by him, ruffling his brown spikes while laughing. Sora pouted as he was left behind, but then laughed along as well.

He ran across the beach to reach the others who were already at the boats, when suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks. It was strange but he could have sworn he felt someone's eyes boring into the back of his head. Looking around he saw nothing out of the ordinary, and as soon as it came, it was just gone.

"Hey are you coming or what?" Riku called over to him just as he was untying his boat and pushing it out into the water.

"Yeah, I'll be right there." Sora called back. _'Maybe I am just being paranoid.'_

* * *

**Canis: "So this is it for now." **

**Crystal: ""I don't know whether to say 'awkward' or 'sooo cute!'"**

**Canis: "The fact that Sora shrunk? Yep, definitely both." *smiles evilly***

**Crystal: "I hope that smile's directed at the characters you feel like torturing and not me or my cookies."**

**Canis: "Nah, it's cool. Besides, I have birthday cake! Which reminds me; whoever finds a FF reference in this chapter gets a virtual piece of my cake. If you get all three of them, you also get a party hat (for some reason). There is a FFX, and a FFIX reference. ****a****s for the final one, anyone who has ever played an FF game should recognize it (hint: it also happens to be a plot device)."**

**Crystal: "As long as there is no catch."**

**Canis: "Are you saying the cake is a lie? *laughs* But seriously, no catch. Anyways, I guess I should be hitting the old trail. Thanks to everyone that has read, reviewed (these seriously motivate me to write), or added this story to their lists. Until Next time!"**

**Crystal: "Bye!" *blows party horn***

**I**

**I**

**Make a writer happy today!**

**I**

**V**


	14. Twilight's Shadow

**Chapter 14: Twilight's Shadow**

**WARNING! This Author's Note is rated T for swearing.**

**Hi everyone! It's been forever hasn't it? I apologize for the massive delay, but I started university (got accepted to the university I was hoping for too :D), and it has simply been relentless. Crystal too has been buried up to her neck in work, and couldn't beta the chapter until very recently.**

**As for the results of the previous chapter's trivia, nobody really got all three references but Luna Simetra Moonhowl was the closest so she gets the slice of cake and the party hat. DemonessOfDepartingSorrows and Roxas - kitty, you guys also get some cake don't worry.**

**Now as all those of you who review know, I like writing personal replies to each and every message I get. Unfortunately, that is impossible when you review as anonymous. For this reason I'll reply to two anonymous reviewers right below.**

_To Marek:_

_I'm afraid I can't go spoiling the ending, but for the other chapters I can say that if you are reading this then you at least know that Chapter 14 has (finally) been updated. As for the others, I can't know for sure, but rest assured I am not abandoning this fic. Anyways, thanks for reviewing._

_To Zhane:_

_When I saw your review I really didn't know whether I should get angry or laugh (I did the latter). I am assuming you wrote that review because of how much you like this story and how compelled you feel to finish it. But regardless of the case, there are a few things I would like to point out:_

_Firstly, insulting an author (and beta) in an attempt to get them to write their story is not really the greatest of ideas. Worst case scenario, you will invoke the writer's wrath and they will react with a 'super effective' HIATUS attack (or even worse, DISCONTINUED)._

_Secondly, neither Crystal nor I are male or illegitimate childs, therefore we cannot be considered 'bastards' *Crystal nods*. Since we are both studying in institutions of higher learning, we can't really be considered 'idiots' either *Crystal nods again*. If anything, you really should have gone for 'bitch' *Crystal facepalms*._

_Third and lastly, I should point out that I am in no way bound or forced to write fanfiction for the pleasure of people all over the world. I do it as a hobby and in no way gain any profit from it. In fact, you should take into consideration that writers also have lives, and all sorts of duties and responsibilities. One of my duties right now is to do well in my studies and get a degree. Heck, this may surprise a few, but my major is related to science, not writing or literature. For those reasons I would like for you to understand that the time I spend writing is really quite a sacrifice, especially now._

_Regardless, I would like to thank you for your review. Though I hope next time (if there is a next time) you will take these things into consideration._

**Now without further delay, I would like to present to you Chapter 14. This is the longest yet.**

**Disclaimer: You all know what this thing means by now.**

* * *

The rays of the sun were just barely over the horizon, bathing the island with just enough light to perfectly illuminate every structure in sight. It was still very early in the morning though, evident in the way the sky was still a blue and purple shade, with the last of the night stars blinking out at the sight of the incoming dawn.

Despite the ungodly hour Sora found himself trudging along the deserted streets towards the beach, where the calming waves for the sea beckoned him over to ease his troubles. Normally he was the least likely to wake up early out of the group, instead sleeping in to a more reasonable hour like noon. His ability to sleep like a log didn´t help much either.

Sora stifled a yawn before shivering a bit from the chilly winds that blew through the morning.

The real reason he had woken up was because today, unlike most days, sleep eluded him. No, it was not like he spent the whole night awake. To be perfectly honest he did manage to sleep, if that could be called _sleep_. It was completely dreamless and it didn´t make him feel like he got any rest at all. Well, he wasn´t tired, but he didn´t feel any rested either, if that made any sense. It was more like lying in bed at night, waiting for sleep´s embrace, only to black out and then 'wake up' like nothing happened, only to realize that _hours_ just went by. Well _that_, and discovering he was still stuck as a younger version of himself.

Needless to say, Sora DID NOT feel like going back to bed after that. Though he was still getting used to his old voice, he still winced or looked away from most reflective surfaces. He thought about just barricading himself in his room, but instead he ate a light breakfast and snuck out of the house, past his still sleeping parents. He was sure they wouldn't really mind, though they would most likely be a bit surprised.

What he really needed at the moment was to be alone. He needed to find seclusion to clear his thoughts, and though normally the comfort and familiarity of his loved ones would be welcome to help him alleviate his troubles, seeking them out now would only make things worse. For starters, he was really starting to think he was going crazy. He was now convinced that whatever reality this was, it was definitely **not** a dream. He really didn't want to think that his adventures had been nothing more than a delirious creation caused by some fish toxin, but the way things were going he wasn't sure for how long he could keep it up. And to make manners worse, he felt he was being watched. It was that hair raising feeling you got whenever you felt a pair of eyes watch you from the darkness. Yet every time he looked over his shoulder to check, there was no one. Was this paranoia just another sign he was indeed losing it?

Sora sighed looking down at his white gloved hand and flexing his fingers.

'_Even the Keyblade isn't answering.'_ Sora thought with a frown. Last night in his room the idea simply popped in his head. If his adventures really did happen then as Keyblade Master, he should have been able to summon the blade. But the second he tried…nothing, nada, zip. Just like Roxas, his Keyblade was gone.

Or maybe it wasn't there to begin with.

Sora shook his head. He really didn't know what to think anymore. Even if told his friends, there was no sort of evidence to back up his claims. The only real thing he would accomplish is to make his friends worry for his sanity, and in all honesty he wouldn't blame them.

The brunette ran a gloved hand through his spikes, looking out at the vast sea before him. He could clearly see the island's fishermen ready to head out on their boats, which made him look up and realize that the sun was already up. Sora then let out a small sigh and proceeded to make his way to the small dock where his rowboat was. He knew that it was going to be suspicious if he didn't show up in Play Island, especially since they came almost every day. Heck, they practically grew up on that island.

Once he reached his rather simple but trusty boat, he untied the rope that bound it to the wooden pier, and with a push of his oar, he was off. A small smile graced his lips as he looked down at the old boat and remembered how his dad would take him and Riku on it and row to the island back when they were small, well _smaller_. Those were quite possibly the best days of his life, looking around for hidden treasure, exploring monster filled caverns and playing pirate with the others.

His thoughts however were interrupted when a feeling, one that he had been feeling periodically since yesterday, invaded him once again: someone was watching him. He was almost tempted to ignore it, but since his reaction was more of a reflex than a carefully thought out action, he was already looking behind him before even realizing that he had done it. He saw nothing ashore except for a brief and almost insignificant flash of blue, accompanied by the sound of fluttering wings.

'_Just a bird.'_ Sora said and let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. _'Paranoia is acting up, just calm down and take a deep breath.' _

It didn't take Sora long to reach Play Island. The sea was in a most pleasant mood making travel across the watery gap both safe and easy. The weather itself seemed to be just as favorable, and based on how the sky was devoid of any clouds with the wind being nothing more than a pleasant breeze, Sora knew it would stay like that for the rest of the day.

Once he reached the small pier, he quickly tied his boat down and then noticed the boats of his friends already there. With a small smile he stepped onto the sandy beach and made his way over to their usual meeting place to greet his waiting friends. They were both already sitting down on the bent trunk of the paopu tree.

* * *

Riku woke up to a stiff back and sore muscles the next morning. He couldn´t help but feel disoriented when he looked outside only to see the vast darkness of space rather than a sunny island morning. At first he thought it was still night, but the clock that hung on the wall of his sleeping quarters said otherwise. In fact, it was a bit past noon, meaning he actually slept in. With a small push, he forced himself out of bed and to the ship´s bathroom to get a quick shower. After undressing and turning on the hot water, he felt his sore muscles relax and he even found himself closing his eyes in bliss.

Besides the pain and disorientation, he had to admit that it could have been much worse though. Thankfully, there were no Heartless when they visited Traverse Town, and even the space between worlds was surprisingly empty. It was much like the calm after a bad storm.

'_Let's just hope it keeps up.'_ Riku thought to himself. _'Though I wouldn't really count on that.'_

Still, he had to admit they were lucky, and he used the term 'lucky' loosely. Mostly because they were still in a ship being recklessly flown by the gruff, blonde, possibly chain smoking pilot that was Cid Highwind. On the plus side, no one (aside from Sora) was seriously injured or dead… yet.

Riku decided that now was as good as any time to get up. The others were probably already up…again, _probably_. They were all pretty tired when they got back. Now that he thought about it, they barely even ate anything. All they managed to do was to eat a small meal and plan their next destination before passing out on their respective beds. He really hoped that the next three worlds wouldn't be as taxing, otherwise they would be left at a great disadvantage. Running around, jumping from one world to the next, facing unknown dangers and great foes alike, Riku had no idea how Sora managed it.

It wasn't like they didn't have any aces up their sleeves though. Both him, Kairi, and Mickey were all Keyblade Wielders. Donald and Goofy could also put up a good fight when they wanted to. Cid was probably the fastest pilot out there. But their real advantage came in the form of a blonde blue eyed girl. Yes, even though Naminé had a tendency to fade into the background, Riku realized just how valuable an asset she was. Since she knew the memories within Sora's heart, she probably knew what places were most important to him and was quite possibly the only thing that kept them from taking a wrong turn and wasting precious time in a fragment-less world.

That was probably why her decision had surprised him so much. After they returned to the ship, and were planning what their new destination would be. During the discussion Mickey wondered if there would be any fragments in Castle Oblivion. Riku had to agree to that logic. That was, after all, the place where Sora first met Organization XIII which then led to Sora's year long sleep. Riku didn't even want to think of the consequences of setting foot in that place again. Those that entered were lost to Oblivion, hence the castle's name. He still remembered how long it took him to get through the basement levels alone.

Naminé, who had been previously resting inside Kairi, came forth to tell them that she doubted that there were any fragments there. Instead she insisted that they should head to Twilight Town. This, although relieving him of the thought of having to cross that place again, surprised him greatly. It was the way she said it that surprised him the most. There was absolutely no hesitation in her voice, which was now surprisingly firm, unlike how she had sounded when they first met. She didn't think there were no fragments there. She _**knew**_ there were no fragments there, but then why Twilight Town?

As far as Riku knew, Sora did become familiar with the inhabitants. That's also where he woke up after going to sleep for a year. As far as he knew, Twilight Town held more sentimental value to Roxas than Sora. Then again, both teens did share the same heart, so maybe both their memories counted. Naminé was also born when Kairi's heart left Sora's body, making her a special Nobody. Maybe that's why she was so sure. Could it be that she too felt attracted towards that light, like a moth to the flame?

Riku would have to wait and see.

The silver-haired teen groaned as he heard his stomach grumble. Deciding that he had wasted enough time thinking about their situation, he quickly finished up, dried himself and redressed in his same old clothes. He would ask Donald if he knew some sort of cleaning spell later.

Riku snapped out of his thoughts as he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in." Riku called just as he finished putting on his vest.

"Good morning." Kairi said as she opened the door. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now that those two let me sleep in peace." Riku said referring to how Donald and Goofy (mostly Donald) had a habit of bickering (squawking in Donald's case) like an old married couple at the earliest of hours. "Did you need something?"

"Oh no, I was just gonna tell you that we will land soon, so you had better get some breakfast while you still can." Kairi said, before leaving through the door.

'_Guess I'd better get going then.'_ Riku thought. _'I wonder what awaits us in Twilight Town.'_

* * *

Roxas calmly ate his breakfast with the rest of the HBRC. It was his second day working alongside them and he was already pleased with his progress so far. In such a short amount of time he had already become familiar with the odd individuals that made the committee. He had easily made friends with the ninja Yuffie, learned a lot from Aerith and Tifa, sparred briefly with Leon and had even held a conversation with the reclusive Cloud, which according to Yuffie, was quite an achievement. Roxas silently agreed since he was never much of a social butterfly either. Spending the first years (technically not even a year), of your young life with a handful of 'heartless' beings did that to you. Almost everyone in Organization XIII was either: overly impassive, overly conceited, overly sadistic, overly eccentric, or all the above. It was a wonder he managed to make friends _at all_. Even getting_ near_ Xaldin when he was having a bad day was guaranteed to get you impaled.

"Yuffie, I suggest you put that piece of bacon back on my plate NOW, unless you want to greet First Tsurugi." Cloud said in a calm but dangerous tone, not even taking his eyes from the coffee mug in his hand.

Yuffie pouted, but otherwise returned her stolen loot.

Tifa gave a sigh from where she was drying a mug near the sink. "I thought we already warned you to stop stealing from him. All you will manage is to antagonize him further. And Cloud, I thought I told you; NO fighting at the table."

"**What's First Tsurugi?"** Roxas asked curiously from his seat, while trying to not laugh at the fact that Tifa was chastising both like a pair of kids. Well, Yuffie was one thing, but _Cloud_…

"Oh that just the name of Cloud's sword, just like Leon's gunblade is called Griever." Aerith supplied.

"**Oh, so do you guys also…?"** Roxas said, a bit unsure of how to word his question.

"Fight?" Aerith asked. "Well Tifa here is a Martial Arts expert, if you want to learn anything about hand-to-hand combat she is your best bet. I specialize in magic, especially white magic, you know, the kind used for healing or protection. But that doesn't mean I can't hold my ground." She finished with a wink.

"**What about Cid?"** Roxas asked again, curiosity peaked.

"Well he may not look like much, but he is not just a great engineer and mechanic, he is also great at using spears and other pole arms. It's a wonder really, especially with all that smoking he does." Tifa said with a thoughtful look.

"**Oh." **Roxas muttered, curiosity satisfied, before turning back to his food. It really was amazing how mouth watering and delicious it was. Aerith was a really good cook. Though according to Leon, she had a habit of making sickeningly sweet ice tea. Well, we can't all be perfect right? **"You know, this food is really amazing!"**

"Thanks, it's the least I can do to reward everyone for their hard work." Aerith said.

"**Oh yeah, speaking of which. What are we doing today Leon?"** Roxas asked.

"Actually, _I_ am going to the outskirts of town to check for damages." Leon said with a rare smirk.

**"Then what am I going to be doing?"** Roxas asked slightly confused.

Tifa gave a small laugh. "_You_ are coming with _me_ tod+ay Roxas. We'll be heading to the Bailey and clearing out the large boulders and those torn down walls. Some of them look like they will completely topple over with the slightest of breezes."

"So once you are ready meet me outside ok?" The long haired brunette said before getting up and heading out the door.

Roxas just shrugged, finished his meal, and followed the martial artist outside. From there it was only a short way up some stairs to get to the Bailey. Now that he really looked at the place, he could see that every time he passed by, it just got steadily worse. The first large change was after the attack from the MPC that left the place in ruins, but now after the last attack, the place was turned into a giant hazard. Debris littered the floor, and many walls had been completely torn down while others looked like they would fall at any given second. Like the other sectors in Radiant Garden, there were also several feet of metal pipes that stuck out from the walls and ground. For a second Roxas looked down at the bailey and instead of seeing a destroyed mess, he saw beautiful blue tinged stones and a huge sparkling water fountain. But as soon as it came, it was gone.

'_**What was that about?'**_ Roxas thought and shook his head.

"Well, this place won't clean itself. You may want to stand back." Tifa said as she put on her leather gloves and approached a piece of partially destroyed wall that had stubbornly withstood the attacks.

'_**But it won't be standing for much longer.'**_ Roxas stepped back and shuddered as he saw Tifa demolish the wall with a single punch. _**'Better remember to never get on her bad side.'**_

After a few more minutes of 'cleaning' out the place, Roxas realized just why he never saw any demolition cranes or bulldozers in town. They just didn't need them. Not with Tifa here at least. He continued to clean off the rubble and gather everything in bags. He was afraid they would rip with all the weight, not to mention the sharp rocks and broken pipes, but Tifa assured him that Merlin modified them especially for this task.

"**Hey Tifa, I've been meaning to ask you guys. Just what is it with the pipes?"** Roxas asked as he finished off his task.

"Ah," Tifa said as she shook of the dust from her leather gloves. "I thought you would be curious. You see, before the Heartless attack for the first time, Radiant Garden was a really beautiful place. One of the things that made it so unique was the many fountains of sparkling water that could be found all over the place, hence the water pipes. Though a lot of those pipes carried water for irrigation."

**"Irrigation?"** Roxas asked.

"Yep, it IS called Radiant _Garden_." Tifa said as she helped load the rest of the bags on one side. "I'm afraid we will have to re-install the pipe system if we want those fountains back, of course once this is all over."

Roxas pushed one particularly heavy bag into the pile, and afterwards sat on it with a tired sigh. **"Just who is the one that will carry this? Leon said someone else would take care of it, but I don't see any way a truck could get here."**

"Don't be silly, of course it's not a truck." Tifa said only confused him further. "Oh look, here he is."

When Roxas turned his head he was greeted by a small blue blur that rammed painfully into his stomach.

"He really seems to like you." Tifa said with a laugh, Roxas just groaned and got into sitting position.

Roxas was already aware of Stitch, Sora had summoned him several times during his journey. The difference was that Stitch didn't know _him_. Or so he thought. The blue alien looked quite happy to see him for some reason. Almost like he knew him…but that was impossible wasn't it?

"Stitch this is Roxas, he's a friend of Sora." Tifa told the little alien, and then turned to Roxas. "Stitch here can lift up to three thousand times his own weight. At first we didn't know where he came from or what to do with him, but he seemed very eager to help, so you can imagine our surprise when he easily lifted this huge boulder."

"Rox-sas?" Stitch said, his eyes looking at the blonde in curiosity.

**"Yeah, that's my name. It's nice to meet you."** Roxas said, lifting the blue koala-like alien off of him.

Stitch however seemed intent on clinging to him. When Roxas put him down, the blue alien just climbed back on, clinging to his back where the blonde wouldn't be able to reach him. After a while, Roxas just gave up, much to Tifa's amusement.

"Are you sure you have never met before? He really seems to like you." Tifa said, scratching Stitch right behind his ear. Stitch's tiny tail seemed to wag, but the blue alien seems more interested in sniffing at Roxas.

**"Yeah, Sora met him before he even met _me_. Besides, I didn't learn to come out until recently."** Roxas said in exasperation as Stitch continued to closely study him.

"How odd…" Tifa said. Seeing the blonde's pleading look, Tifa knelt down next to Stitch and spoke. "Stitch, we were wondering if you could take those bags from us. You wouldn't mind would you?"

Stitch stopped and turned towards the dark haired woman. With a nod and a sharp-toothed smile, the little alien left Roxas alone and approached the bags. Stitch grabbed one of the bags but then stopped when the bag opened and a medium sized blue tinged rock fell out. The little alien grabbed the rock and inspected it. Much to Tifa and Roxas's surprise, Stitch began scratching at it with his long claws, seemingly trying to give it a defined shape. After appearing satisfied with his work, Stitch trudged over to Roxas and handed him the stone.

"**Huh? Oh, thanks Stitch."** Roxas said with a smile as he took the stone.

"Terr-ah, Acuuu-a, Venn, fre-nds, _ohana_. Sor-ah and Rox-sas too." Stitch replied with a smile and then turned towards the bags, leaving Roxas utterly confused by his words.

He grabbed two of them, and seeing as there were still more, the little extraterrestrial made an extra two arms sprout from his sides, as well as antennae and three slender spikes from his back, and grabbed the remaining bags. With a small wave that was returned by both Roxas and Tifa, the little alien was off.

"Stitch will be able to take care of things from here. We should head back over for lunch." Tifa said and they both made their way up the stairs to exit the bailey.

Roxas's attention was brought back to the stone in his hand. Looking at it clearly he realized that it had been carved in the shape of a rough star.

* * *

When Kairi and the others landed near the train station in Twilight Town, they noticed that the place was rather deserted. There wasn't a single person in sight, and looking from the tall balcony below, they could see it was the same for the rest of the town.

"Garwsh, what do you reckon happened to everyone?" Goofy asked.

"Dunno, maybe it's because of the attacks earlier." King Mickey suggested.

Riku nodded. "It would make sense. Everyone must still be pretty shaken up from what happened."

'_**Kairi, I think there's a fragment nearby.'**_ Naminé said from the recesses of her mind.

'_Are you sure?'_ Kairi asked and she received a mental nod. _'How can you tell?'_

'_**I can't say for sure. It's like I can feel Sora nearby.' **_The blonde girl replied, Kairi just nodded and delivered the message to the group.

"Alright then, we should get moving." Riku said. "If the fragment is nearby, my guess would be the clock tower. Even if it's not there, it may give us a vantage point. From that height we should be able to see the rest of the town, with some luck we might even spot the others."

The group climbed up the steps of the train station, and was about to head in were it not for a voice that called for them to stop.

"Wait, don't go inside it might be dangerous!" The group turned around, except Riku who only faced the speaker, a look of impatience and displeasure crossed his features. "Wait, Kairi? Donald? Goofy?"

Kairi looked at the speaker once more, and it was then that she recognized the teen in front of them as Pence, Olette and Hayner were next to him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Olette asked in surprise.

"Yeah, and where's Sora? Shouldn't he be with you guys?" Hayner asked and an uncomfortable silence settled.

Nobody spoke, but the three local teens could easily notice the somewhat somber atmosphere that settled. After all, how could they explain the three that Sora had fallen in battle? In the end it was Riku that broke the silence. With a sigh he simply turned towards the three. Kairi could see that he was trying very hard to not snap at them.

"Listen, I'm afraid we are a bit on a time limit here, so we can't afford to have a sit down and chat. If you guys could tell us why we can't go inside, or even help us find what we are looking for, we'd really appreciate it. Otherwise, we'll just have to get going." Riku said, and Kairi noticed a scowl form on Hayner's face.

"Riku!" She admonished, even though she had to admit that Riku had a point. Still, he didn't have to be like that. "I'm sorry about that. But you see, he's right, we are in a bit of a hurry. Sora…got hurt and we need to find these fragments of light to help him."

The trio before them exchanged a glance, before Hayner, seemingly forgetting Riku's attitude, just nodded and told them to follow him.

"If you are looking for 'light' I think I know what you came here for." Hayner said as they ran up the long sets of stairs to reach the top. "Just a few days ago these _things_ appeared around town. While a bunch left, some of them started routinely floating around town and stopping at the clock tower. That's why most people are staying inside their homes."

"Then what about you guys?" Kairi asked.

"Well those things never really hurt anybody, not like those black monsters from before-Heartless they were called right?" Hayner asked. "Anyways, we came here to check it out. We had this…feeling that Sora was somehow involved."

Kairi nodded once more and told the three exactly what was going on. The trio reacted by telling them exactly what had been happening with the town, and surprisingly, what happened when Sora last came here. Needless to say, they were all shocked by the information, especially the revelation that they already knew Roxas. When the group finally reached the top of the clock tower they were surprised to find it completely empty.

"Where is it?" Donald squawked.

Kairi frowned, and she could feel Naminé do the same. They were sure that the fragment was around here somewhere. But where exactly was it?

"Guys look!" Pence pointed out and everyone turned to see what the teen was pointing at. Out there, beyond the clock tower and floating in front of them was the fragment they were searching.

"Well now we know where it is." Goofy said.

"Yeah, but how are we supposed to reach it?" Riku mused.

"You don't suppose we could use magic?" Kairi asked.

Donald gave a huff and brought out his staff. He tried using magnet spells, but it didn't work. Even gravity spells to bring the light down didn't make it budge. The now-angry duck was about to just zap the stubborn fragment to smithereens when Goofy and King Mickey came to restrain him.

"Donald calm down, we'll find another way!" King Mickey said, knowing Donald all too well.

"Gawrsh, maybe if we asked it politely it will come." Goofy said and he just received looks of incredulity. Completely undeterred by the looks he was receiving, the anthropomorphic dog just faced the light fragment and waved. "Hello there Mr. Light Fragment, would you please come closer, we-"

Goofy would have continued were it not for Donald losing the rest of his already-short patient and hitting him on the head with his staff before squawking out in anger. "Don't be an idiot, saying 'please' won't work!"

"Erm Donald?" The King interrupted. "The fragment is descending."

"See I toldya it would work, Ahy-uk!" Goofy said happily, which left the duck fuming in anger.

"Come on let's hurry!" Hayner said and everyone scrambled for the stairs.

After running up the stairs and then back down again, the group was left panting. Many of them turned to glare at the cause of their predicament; the fragment of Sora's light that was now floating innocently before them. Couldn't it have descended earlier?

Taking a few breathes to calm her racing heart, Kairi took out her charm, and quickly approached the light before it could get away. The group had to look away or else be blinded by the brilliant explosion of light that followed.

_Today, you're one of us_

_Hey, I laughed... I guess we really are friends_

_Your...friend? Roxas, do you think I could be a friend?_

_When Axel gets back, let's ask him. Then all three of us can have ice cream together!_

_I don't remember much from the beginning either_

_You two do have a lot in common_

_I wonder what kind of guy I was before..._

_As long as we remember each other, we'll never be apart. Got it _

_memorized?_

_Hey Roxas, bet you don't know why the sun sets red_

_Today makes 255_

_Best friends are honest with each other! Who am I, Axel?_

_I'm forgetting something really important_

_Xion!_

_Good-bye, Roxas. See you again. I'm glad...I got to meet you_

_Never forget. That's the truth_

_Xion…_

When the memory finished all there was left was silence. Nobody wanted to talk, yet everyone was waiting for someone to make the first move. In the end the group was brought out of the silence by the barely contained sobs and hiccups emanating from Olette. It was then that Kairi became aware of the warm tears that were sliding down her face. She didn't even realize she had started crying. Around her Riku remained stoic, though it was hard to tell by the way his bangs covered his eyes. Donald and Goofy looked just as confused as she was right now, though both looked remarkably sad. Mickey too looked sad, but there was something about his expression that made her think he knew a lot more than he was letting on.

Meanwhile, the Twilight Trio was doing far worse. Olette was openly crying while Pence was 'rubbing some trash out of his eyes'. Hayner on the other hand, was holding back through sheer will, but seeing the state of his friends, he excused himself and the others for a moment, but not before giving them a look that demanded an explanation once they got back.

Kairi too demanded some explanation, all while her mind was doing flips over what she had just felt. That was definitely not Sora's memories, they were Roxas's. But then, that didn't explain everything. Just who was Xion (or was it Shion?)? Why had she never heard of her? Was she a part of Organization XIII? Sora had told her about the Organization in detail and he had never mentioned such a name. But, she used to be friends with Roxas and Axel. Then if that was the case, whatever happened to her?

'_Naminé, you know about this don't you?'_ Kairi asked and she almost felt her Nobody shrink back. _'Don't you?'_

After a few tense moments of silence the blonde Nobody replied with a sad sigh. _**'Yes. Most of it is a blur, but… I do know who she was. She used to be the fourteenth member, only she wasn't exactly a Nobody. It all happened while Sora slept so he really had no idea either. Even now it's very hard to talk about it. I'm sure it's the same for Riku and the King.'**_

Kairi's eyes widened. _'You mean they know too. And what do you mean by not exactly a Nobody.'_

'_**I-' **_

"Kairi." Riku interrupted. Kairi snapped out of her inner conversation and faced the silver-haired boy. "Hayner and the others are back, we should get a move on."

"Riku, who is Xion? Why didn't you ever mention her? Tell me." Kairi said as she gave the teen a 'I-know-you-are-keeping-something-from-me-and-I-demand-to-know-what-is-it' look. Riku just sighed at the inevitable.

"Xion was part of the Organization. But unlike the others she was created as an incomplete copy of Sora. They hoped to do this so that they could have another Keyblade wielder in their hands. Because she was created using his strongest memories, she looked just like you, only with dark hair. It really surprised me the first time I saw her." Riku said as the two walked over to the group.

"What happened to her?" Kairi muttered loud enough for Riku to hear.

Riku frowned as if trying to remember something. "In the end she…she was defeated by Roxas and returned to Sora. It's hard to remember though, since it was memories that made her. Once she gave them back, there was almost nothing to remember her by. But she was one of the reasons Roxas left the Organization. It was a huge loss for him, and I suspect it was for Axel as well. Nobodies or not, the three of them were friends."

Kairi nodded numbly. She hardly noticed King Mickey explain to an exasperated Hayner exactly what just happened. She was just too caught up in her thoughts. She had never expected something like this. Her heart immediately went out to Roxas. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose Sora or Riku. And not only that, but it was _Roxas_ who had to do the deed. She doubted she could ever do the same to Sora or Riku. She still had nightmares with what happened in Hollow Bastion when Sora rescued her by impaling himself, not to mention how she and the two other Keyblade wielders were forced to stop Sora when he went on a rampage in Radiant Garden. She doubted she had the strength to do anything like that again. She simply could not bear it.

"Kairi are you listening?" King Mickey asked, and Kairi turned her attention to the small king.

"I'm sorry…What did you say?" Kairi asked.

King Mickey gave a sigh and an understanding smile. "We wanted to know if Naminé has any idea where the other fragments could be."

Kairi paused and then attempted to contact the blonde.

'_**Kairi there are no fragments close by. But I think we should head to the mansion.'**_ Naminé said.

Kairi nodded and passed along the information. Deep down she thought it was strange. If this place meant so much to Roxas, then why were the fragments found only in two places? Looking down at her charm, she saw that one of the shells was glowing brilliantly, while another one had only a small section lit. Were there any fragments missing? They couldn't all be in the mansion.

The group ran quickly through the empty town, down Market Street and into Tram Common. It was so eerie to see the usually cheery place so empty. More than anything it gave them all the feeling that they would be attacked at any given moment. It certainly made the hairs at the back of her neck stand on end.

"Where do you think you are going?" A voice called out, making the group stop in their tracks. Standing there with his two lackeys at each side was Seifer, his expression as smug as ever.

"I don't think that's any of your business. Now why don't you go back to wherever you came from and we'll be on our way." Riku said before Hayner could even blink. He spoke with a deceptively calm manner. His tone however, carried an underlying threat and Kairi could tell Riku was not joking.

Seifer scowled at the silver haired boy, not liking his tone at all. "I don't think you realize who you are talking to silvery-locks."

Riku gave a mock laugh. "Oh, I know who I am talking to. Do you?"

Seifer growled at the teen. "All I know is that you _outsiders_ are the reason the town is like this. And as leader of the disciplinary committee, it's my job to deal with outsiders."

"Well, it's going to get much worse if you don't let us go on our way." Riku growled and Kairi's eyes widened when she saw how his aqua colored eyes flashed gold.

"Is that a threat?" Seifer yelled, completely oblivious to the change, while both Rai and Fu shifted into fighting positions.

"Both of you stop it!" Kairi yelled, and Riku turned to look at her in shock. Kairi then turned to glare at the blonde. "He's right, we need to go _now_."

Seeing her anger, King Mickey stepped up and turned to look at Seifer. "She is right, things will turn infinitely worse if we don't reach our goal in time. But if it's a fight you want, then I will gladly fight you, as long as everyone else gets to go on."

"Mickey…" Riku said with his eyes wide.

"You guys just head on without me, I'll catch up later." The small king said, but was stopped when a blur of green and blonde ran in front of him.

"That's okay." Hayner said with a smirk. "I'll take Seifer on. He owes me anyways. You guys just focus on helping Sora alright?"

"Yeah and we will make sure he doesn't get his butt kicked." Pence added.

"So just focus on the task. And say hi to Sora for us, once he is better." Olette said.

"Alright then, thanks." Riku said, his smile for once was surprisingly genuine.

"Come on everyone, let's go." King Mickey said, also smiling, while the rest of the group started to move out. Kairi gave Riku one last worried look before following the others towards the far end of Tram Common. She knew what she saw. Riku's eyes had suddenly flashed gold, the same shade as Xenahort, and by extension also Xemnas. Was the darkness also affecting Riku?

'_Come on Riku, not you too.'_ Kairi thought sadly as she looked at her childhood friend.

The group slowed down when they finally reached the forest through the large crack in Tram Common. The reason for this was that it was quite dark, and nobody was really in the mood to trip one the large roots that protruded from the cold damp ground. When they finally reached the bright clearing, they were greeted by the sight of a large, yet abandoned manor, evident by the broken archways and the wildly growing grass. The whole place was kept behind a tall wall with a thick iron gate that was currently open, but did nothing to soothe the atmosphere of enigma that surrounded the place. Yet the most noticeable feature at the moment was the ball of white light floating lazily in front of the gates.

Wasting no time, Kairi approached the sphere and held out her charm, right before the onslaught of memories began.

_You seek answers_

_I can give you purpose_

_Roxas_

_That is right…_

_the new you_

Kairi found herself shivering when the memory ended. She had a pretty good idea of who the dark baritone belonged to. But even though that voice was one she associated with nightmares, it was not what bothered her the most. It was the feeling that accompanied the memory that sent chills down her spine, or really the _lack_ of feeling. The memory felt so empty, so emotionless, like a gaping void staring at her right in the face. Was that what being a Nobody was like?

'_**That was Roxas's birth. Xemnas came to meet him, and he was the one who gave him a name.'**_ Naminé filled in.

'_Roxas was born here in Twilight Town?' _Kairi asked.

'_**Yes, most Nobodies are born here. We think it's because of this Town's proximity to the darkness.'**_ Naminé continued.

'_So Roxas joined the Organization right after being born?' _Kairi asked.

'_**Well, not at first. Roxas explored the town right afterwards. That's when he met Axel, who then took him to the Clock Tower and convinced him to join.'**_ Naminé said. _**'It's all really a blur though. During the first days of his existence, Roxas was in a bit of a zombie-like state. I think it is mostly because Sora regained his heart. That's why unlike most Nobodies, Roxas couldn't remember anything from his past. At least, that's what he told me once.'**_

"Alright, where to now?" Donald squawked, snapping everyone from their daze. It was a good thing too because they really had no time to lose.

_'Naminé?'_ Kairi asked.

There were a few seconds of silence before the blonde girl answered.

**_'I-I don't know. I can't feel them anywhere nearby.'_** Naminé answered and Kairi could tell the uneasy tone in the girls voice.

Kairi frowned. Looking down at the charm, she saw that this world's shell wasn't even half lit. There were obviously more fragments here, but then why couldn't Naminé feel them? And more importantly, where could they be?

"What do you mean you can't feel them?" Kairi asked out loud.

_**'It's like they disappeared.'**_ Naminé said.

"That's weird." Kairi commented, and when the other looked at her with curious looks, she filled them in.

"Now what are we supposed to do?" Donald squawked, his temper flaring.

"Gawrsh, maybe they're on another side of town. There's still Sunset Terrace, and um, the beach, and Yen Sid's Tower too!" Goofy counted off.

"That doesn't make sense, there's a difference between disappearing and being far away." Kairi reasoned.

"Yeah, and Yen Sid's tower has been temporarily sealed off, not to mention the whole place is in another rift." King Mickey added.

"But then what other choices are there?" Donald squawked.

"Actually…" Riku began, his expression thoughtful. "There's another place where they could be."

"Where?" Goofy asked and Riku grimaced slightly.

"I don't know if it's possible, but they could be in the _other_ Twilight Town." Riku said, emphasizing on the word.

"Actually, that would explain everything." King Mickey concluded.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Donald squawked and everyone followed after the water fowl.

"Wait, Riku." Kairi called and the silver haired boy stopped and turned to face her.

"What is it?" Riku asked, his gaze strangely evasive.

Kairi waited until the others were out of hearing range before answering. "I wanted to know if you were okay. I saw it…when you went against Seifer."

Riku's eyes widened a bit, but then he quickly regained his cool. "Don't worry. It was…an accident. I lost control for a second. When that guy wanted to stop us, I guess I just lost my temper."

"Alright." Kairi said, but deep down she was worrying. It wasn't like Riku to lose his temper like that. But then again, this wasn't an everyday situation, and Riku would do pretty much anything for his friends.

"Now come on, we don't want to be left behind." Riku said half-heartedly and Kairi could tell that he wasn't really looking forwards to what was coming. Kairi supposed it brought up unpleasant memories of the time he spent as 'Ansem'.

* * *

"**What did you want to show me?" **Roxas asked as he walked the empty streets of Radiant Garden.

He was done with work and though he originally intended to stay at Merlin's and check on Sora, those plans had been quickly trashed when Aerith came out of nowhere and practically dragged him out of the house. At this rate it looked like he wasn't going to get that quiet afternoon to himself.

'_**And I was looking forward to it too. With all that's going on and especially after the odd encounter with Stitch, I really needed some time to sort things out.' **_Roxas thought with a sigh. At least he hoped that whatever Aerith wanted to show him was interesting enough. And now that he thought about it, it would be a great time to ask her about the town. Tifa _did_ say to ask her.

"Oh, it's a little secret of mine." Aerith said with a small wink. "You'll see when we get there. We're really close now too."

Roxas looked around. He really didn't recognize any of the buildings around him, though it was likely just another part of town. Most of them looked like they were ready to collapse with a small breeze of wind. The area looked largely uninhabited too, which was fine by him since he didn't want to run into the townsfolk either (Sneaking around town reminded him too much of the reconnaissance missions he used to get with the organization). But strangest of all, it wasn't really all that far away from Merlin's house, just a short walk away through a maze of run down streets that Sora had never really set foot in. Aerith obviously wouldn't have brought him along if it was far away because of the bond strains with Sora.

'_**This place must have been hit hard by the attack.'**_ Roxas reasoned as he saw the damage. Most of the damaged looked pretty old though, which led him to believe that it dated back to the original attack all those years ago, before the town was called 'Hollow Bastion'. _**'Still, I wonder why they haven't cleared this area out yet. Maybe it's just too damaged. At least some of the older buildings in town could be used again, but most of these look pretty bad. Maybe they just took whatever they could from this section like scrap metal, until they can tear it down completely and rebuild.'**_

Finally after a five minute walk through twisting streets, they reached their destination. At least Roxas supposed it was, since it was the only building standing. And it wasn't just any building either, but some sort of church. The white stone it was built with was a bit faded and the building did look a bit run down. Roxas could even see a large hole in the roof. Despite this, the building still looked structurally sound.

**'_It really must have been something back in its old days.'_** Roxas thought, his eyes looking at the unique style of architecture and stained glass windows, some of which were surprisingly intact. He had never seen anything like it before.

"Are you coming in or what?" Aerith asked, chuckling at the blonde's reaction.

Roxas took his cue and followed the brunette inside. The floor was made completely out of wood, some sections of it old and splintered while other sections were completely missing. There were many dark oak pews all in a complete disarray, though Roxas assumed it really didn't matter at this point. There were also several marble pillars holding up the ceiling (or what was left of it), some of them completely destroyed while others were cracked or at least partially destroyed. But what really caught his eye was the large flowerbed right under the large hole in the ceiling, in front of it, right near the altar was a large sword driven into the ground, looking almost as if it were watching over the flower patch. The sword itself looked like something Cloud would use, which made Roxas wonder if it was his and if he knew it was here. As for the flowers, they were all quite large and either a cheery yellow color or a bright white. Roxas wasn't a specialist on plants, that was really more of Marluxia's thing, so he didn't know exactly what they were (he had assumed lilies), but he couldn't deny how beautiful the white and yellow flowers looked or how well they seemed to be cared for. And now that he thought about it, he had never really seen flowers in this world before.

**"This is amazing. Are you the one that cares for them?"** Roxas asked.

"Thanks, this is really the only place where they will grow. My dream is to fill this world with flowers to make everyone happy, just like it once was." Aerith said as she crouched down and tended to her flowers.

**"Like it once was?"** Roxas asked.

"Yeah, Radiant Garden was once famous for its large floral gardens, hence it's name. I'm sure you've noticed all those pipes strewn about." Aerith answered.

**"The irrigation systems.**" Roxas concluded and the brunette nodded.

"That's right, asides from being used for the fountains, most of the pipes were made to irrigate all the gardens. It was nearly impossible to do it all by hand." Aerith said. "We are actually hoping to rebuild the pipe system. Luckily, Tron managed to find us some blueprints, so after we finish with the buildings, I'm hoping that these flowers will fill the streets once more."

**"That really would be something."** Roxas said, his gaze turning towards the flowers and then falling onto the large gleaming sword. **"Hey Aerith, is that Cloud's sword?"**

The brunette turned and glanced at the large blade fondly. "Yes, but before that, it belonged to a very special friend of mine…"

* * *

Riku ran after the group after his talk with Kairi. He felt guilt settle in the pit of his stomach for dismissing her concerns like that. He had lied to her, because in reality, he was worried too. He hadn't meant for his darkness to slip out like that. And even though he really had lost his temper back there, he knew that it wasn't entirely the reason his darkness flared like that. No, he wasn't as worried as he was angry. He was angry at himself for lying to Kairi. He was angry at himself for having that stupid affinity for darkness, and most of all, he was angry at himself for lacking the strength to hold it back.

The group entered the dusty mansion and Riku decided to just hurry up and get to the simulation. This place did not bring back good memories. So, ignoring everything else, Riku followed up the Foyer stairs and into the extensive library to the right. There, visible for all to see, was the entrance to 'DiZ's' underground laboratory. Going down the stairs and past a set of steel doors, the group ended up in small room with lots of monitors, a computer, and several other miscellaneous pieces of technology that Riku couldn't really care less about. Though he was better with computers than Sora, that didn't mean he found them anymore interesting.

Thankfully, the link between the towns was still up and running, the town itself seemed to carry on even after Ansem, the town's creator, was gone. He briefly wondered if it had somehow gained sentience like that MCP inside Radiant garden's computer, but then shrugged it off. They had more important things to do. The group approached the long thin beam of light that served as a link, and one by one they touched it and disappeared, all until it was only Riku and King Mickey left.

"Wait, Mickey." Riku said just as the small king was about to touch the light.

"What's wrong Riku?" Mickey said. He always insisted that he called him that, rather than King Mickey like everyone else.

Riku sighed, but then made up his mind to tell the King what was wrong. If anybody in the group had an explanation for what was happening, then Mickey did. "The darkness is growing restless. When we encountered that guy earlier, I nearly unleashed it on him."

Mickey looked at the teen with an unusually serious and thoughtful expression. "So the darkness is getting hold of you. That's not good."

Riku scoffed. "It's my fault for being weak."

"Riku, listen to me and listen good, you are not weak. If it were anyone else, they would have long since become a Heartless. But, there must be something that stirring the darkness and maybe coming to Twilight Town has made it worse. This place is closer to it than most worlds." Mickey reasoned. "In any case, we should be careful. Let's avoid confrontations unless we really have to."

Riku nodded, Mickey was right. "Can this stay between us though? I don't want to make Kairi worry, especially not after Sora…you know."

"Well it's your secret, so I'll keep hushed until you feel you are ready. Now let's hurry up. We still have a mission to accomplish." Mickey said and walked into the beam of light, but not before becoming the silvery haired teen to follow.

Riku felt a small tingling sensation when passing through the light, but when it was over he found himself in an almost exact replica of the room from before. The only differences were the group that was now looking around and the severely broken multi-screened computer on one side of the room. If Riku recalled correctly, that was the computer that Roxas had destroyed in a fit of anger. He was mildly surprised that it was still sparking occasionally.

'_Thankfully, it wasn't used for something important.'_ Riku mused.

"What took you guys so long?" Kairi asked.

"Oh, it was nothing really." Mickey replied and then asked. "So, can Naminé feel them yet?"

Kairi paused for a moment and then nodded. "She says there's one close by and another one inside the mansion somewhere."

"Great! Can you lead us?" Mickey asked and Kairi nodded a bit unsurely.

The girl stopped for a moment before heading to a door on the opposite side of the room. Riku realized that it was towards the room where the pods were kept. After passing by a square shaped room with an eerie portal on the far corner (apparently it was a portal to The World That Never Was), the group froze when they saw a light fragment exit through the opposite door.

Quickly following after the stray fragment, they were led to another room. It was quite small and was really more of a hallway lined with inactive pods on the sides, right at a bend. At the end was a large door, not unlike the ones found all over the secret lab, but unlike the rest of the lab, the room that lay behind the door was almost entirely white. The only exceptions were the light lilac colored floor that seemed to blend to walls and the glowing light green designs on the ground that pulsated slightly. In the middle of the room however was a tall flower like pod, like the ones in the room outside, this one was empty as well.

"Over there!" Donald squawked and everyone turned to look at what the duck was pointing at.

It took a moment for Riku to see it. After all, the fragment of light floating right before them blended in quite well with the rest of the room. Kairi quickly took her cue and brought out her charm, a good thing too because Riku did not feel like racing all over the town as it was known to happen.

_You really do remember me this time? I'm SO FLATTERED!_

_But you're too late!_

_Axel..._

_Let's meet again in the next life_

_Yeah, I'll be waiting_

_Silly, just because you have a next life..._

_At last, the Keyblade's chosen one_

_Who are you talking to? Me? Or Sora?_

_I hate you so much..._

_My heart belongs to me!_

_You're lucky_

_Looks like my summer vacation is over…_

When the memory was over, Riku gave a sigh. Sure the bitterness the blonde held towards Sora had been misplaced, but in all honesty, Riku felt that it was perfectly understandable. Had he been in the same situation…well, at this point he really didn't want to think about that. He was partially to blame for all that happened to Roxas. Though 'DiZ' was the mastermind behind the plans, he was the one that literally dragged Roxas off like a lamb to the slaughter. At that time he was so desperate to help his friend. He really would have done _anything_ to get Sora better. But it only helped prove that he had not learned anything from his previous experiences. Didn't he join Maleficent for the same reason? All so he could save Kairi? And how did that turn out?

'_Oh yeah, I got possessed AND the worlds were almost engulfed in eternal darkness.'_ Riku thought sarcastically to himself. _'All I proved was that I was as much of a fool as Ansem.'_

"Riku come on, let's go." King Mickey said and Riku was instantly reminded that he had been spacing out for Kingdom-Hearts-knew how long.

"Alright, I'm coming." Riku replied and followed quickly. He did not miss the worried look Kairi was giving him.

The group backtracked to the computer room. According to Naminé, there was a fragment somewhere inside the mansion. The only problem was that the door was somehow stuck and blocking their exit.

"Don't worry, I got this." Riku said.

With a surprising amount of force, the silver haired teen rammed his side against the door, making it screech loudly, but nevertheless open slightly. A single strong kick later and the door was brought down, opening the path for the rest of the group.

"There." Riku said calmly while ignoring the prickling sensation on his arm and the looks the rest of the group were giving him.

They walked up the stairs of the library and when they were at the top, Kairi spoke up, a thoughtful look on her face.

"How do you think the fragment managed to get past the closed door?" She asked.

"Gawrsh, maybe the fragments are like ghosts and they can go through all kinds of stuff." Goofy mused.

"Actually, Goofy might be right." Mickey said in slight surprise.

"Yeah, but that only raises more questions." Riku said.

"What do you mean by that?" Donald squawked.

Kairi had a look of realization. "I get it! It's because of what happened in Traverse Town right?"

Riku nodded and then explained. "That fragment flew all over the town's streets. But if they really could just phase through everything, they why not just do that? Why bother floating through the streets when they could just phase through houses? And why were they moving in the first place? According to what we've seen so far, some of them have something like routines. But the question is why. Why do they act like that?"

"Yeah, that is a good question. I've been wondering the same and I think I have an idea." Mickey said, grabbing everyone's attention. "I think in those cases, the memories didn't take place in one specific place. In Traverse Town, the first memory we found was when Sora started searching all over the 1st District. The other fragment from the hotel headed over to where Sora ended up meeting Donald and Goofy. I don't think it's a coincidence, I think these fragments are retracing Sora's steps, well Roxas's in this case. I think they still phase over objects but they follow a specific path if they have one."

"I guess that makes our work both easier and harder." Riku said with a sigh. And here he was hoping he wouldn't have to race all over town to find the fragments.

The group exited the library and, following Kairi's (or more like Naminé's) lead, they headed to the door opposite to the library on the second floor of the manor. Unlike the rest of the rooms inside the manor, this room, like the pod room, was a blinding white color. This was made even worse because of the light that poured from the large slightly ajar window, evident from the white billowing curtains. There was a white table with a vase of equally white flowers on top. Many drawings hung on the white walls showing different scenes, strange to any other bystander. Even stranger, was the fragment now circling around the room.

"Here goes." Kairi said and retrived her charm from her pocket. The fragment reacted almost instantly and floated towards her, becoming brighter and brighter until the group had to close their eyes.

_My name is Naminé_

_Roxas... _

_Do you remember your true name?_

_But if no one tells him, Roxas will..._

_This is...me? ...And Axel's here too_

_You ARE best friends..._

_Suddenly I feel like I don't know myself at all..._

_You...you were never supposed to exist, Roxas_

_I'm sorry. I guess some things really are better left unsaid_

_A Nobody doesn't have a right to know, nor does it even have the right to be_

_You won't disappear, you'll be whole!_

_I may not know it's you, and you may not know it's me, but we will meet again someday soon, I promise!_

When the memory ended, Riku felt an unpleasant weight settle on his chest. He quickly realized that it was guilt. Riku mentally kicked himself. He should have already put all of this behind him. This was not the time to have another guilt trip. Shaking his head to distract himself, his eyes met the drawings on the white walls.

'_It's amazing to think Naminé drew all of these.'_ Riku thought, for once looking at the pictures displayed on the walls. His gaze stopped wandering and focused on a simple picture showing him, Kairi, and Sora sitting on their usual spot on the paopu tree. _'That's right. That is what matters most right now.'_

"Naminé says she can't feel any more inside the mansion." Kairi spoke, her eyes lingering on her charm. It looked like there were still quite a few left.

"Then we will have to head into town." Riku said, massaging his temple.

"That's right, but before that, there is something I should tell you." Mickey said with a serious tone and everyone's attention was turned towards him. "Remember that this is not the Twilight Town we visisted. Therefore, the Hayner, Pence, and Olette we might meet here are NOT the same. They will probably have similar personalities, but other than that, they will not know us. They might not even know Roxas if the data was somehow reset. So while we are there, we must not mention where we are from or really anything about the real Twilight Town, alright?"

Riku along with everyone else gave a nod. He didn't think the people here would take it kindly to know that they were really part of a computer simulation program. Nope, it was much better to keep it a secret. And besides, judging by that blonde guy, Seifer, outsiders weren't all that welcome in either case.

The group quickly left the mansion through the front door in the Foyer. Walking up through the path leading to the gates, they realized that not only were they closed, but that there was also a large padlock closing off the place from the outside. Riku almost rolled his eyes. Whoever put that lock had probably never dealt with a Keyblade Wielder. Kairi was the one that took the honors and quickly summoned Destiny's Embrace, pointing its colorful tip at the offending lock. A beam shot out of the tip and flew to the padlock, which opened and dropped on the ground.

"Alright, let's go." Kairi said smiling.

The group quickly moved through the woods until reaching the large crack that led to Tram Common. Unlike the real Twilight Town, many people were walking calmly on the streets, though thankfully most didn't take any notice of them.

"Where do we go now?" Riku asked.

Kairi once again paused to talk to Naminé before answering. "She says we should head over to where Roxas used to hang out with Hayner and the others. She says it's a bit past Market Street. She also says it's best to head from there rather than from the Sandlot in case we run into Seifer."

"Okay, let's go." Riku said, though he would _love_ to show that guy a piece of his mind, they really were on a tight schedule.

They swiftly made their way through the streets with practiced ease. Though they gained several questioning looks from the townspeople that saw them, nobody really made a move to confront them which Riku was infinitely thankful for. His temper had been on the rise lately.

They reached Market Street and after going through a small side-street, they ended up in an area Riku was familiar with. It was the small place where Roxas encountered him, and consequently ended up accidentally hitting him with a stick.

'_I did get him back for that though.'_ Riku thought with some amusement.

They all ended up entering the small hideout hidden behind a large red curtain. Inside was an assortment of objects all organized to look like a small room, complete with an old sofa, several boxes, and even a dartboard. Thankfully nobody else was in sight, well unless the fragment floating over one of the sofas counted. Kairi quickly approached it, and before they knew it, the memory started.

_Man, doesn't that tick you off?_

_We could find the real thieves. That would set the record straight_

_Who's there?_

_What was that about?_

_Do you guys think we'll always be together like this?_

_I sure hope so_

_Well, I doubt we can be together forever_

_What's important isn't how often we see each other, but how often we think about each other right?_

_We didn't go_

_It wouldn't be the same without you, right?_

_All that for me?_

When the memory ended, the guilt seemed to return. Briefly Riku wondered whether 'DiZ' had made the right decision back then. Ansem the Wise wasn't really in his best mental state when they first met. Because really, what was worse? To live without knowing a normal life, or to experience it and then have it ripped away from you?

"How many do we have left?" Riku asked Kairi.

The red head frowned slightly and held up the charm. "There's at least three more, though I can't be completely sure."

Riku inwardly groaned. It looked like he wasn't in luck. "Well, at least we-"

"What are you guys doing in here? This is our spot!" An angry voice yelled, startling everyone.

Riku quickly turned around, his fingers twitching for his Keyblade in anticipation. There, standing angrily was none other than Hayner, Pence and Olette by his side. Noticing the scowl forming on his face, it was Kairi who thankfully answered for the group.

"We're sorry, we were just walking around when we were curious to see what was back here." Kairi said sheepishly.

Hayner looked about ready to make a retort, which made Riku's temper flare, and made the teen stand beside Kairi protectively. But thankfully Olette quickly noticed this and was able to stop Hayner's mistake from ever happening with a quick jab to the ribs.

"No it's okay, you guys really had no idea. I'm Olette, this grumpy guy over here is Hayner and that's Pence." Olette greeted.

"I'm Kairi, this guy is Riku, and these are Mickey, Donald, and Goofy." Kairi introduced.

"Are you guys new here? I've never seen you before, though you look somewhat familiar..." Olette said.

"We're not from here, just passing through." Kairi said quickly.

"Actually, you guys might be able to help us." King Mickey said.

"Sure, what is it that you guys need?" Olette asked.

"Well, we wanted to know if there have been any strange things happening around town." King Mickey said.

"You mean like the seven wonders of Twilight Town?" Pence spoke up.

Hayner's scowl seemed to deepen and he angrily turned towards the group. "You guys should just forget about it. Nothing good will come from it."

"Hayner!" Olette reprimanded while the blonde just turned around and left.

"I'll go talk to him." Olette told Pence and then left as well.

Giving a tired sigh, Pence turned towards the group. "We're sorry about that. He is usually a nice guy but well…he doesn't like it when people bring it up."

"Bring what up?" Donald asked.

"The seven wonders, or really anything that has to do with something weird." Pence explained.

"Why is that?" Goofy asked with curiosity.

"Well, it's a bit hard for me to say. But, a while ago these strange things started happening in town, especially to this friend of ours. He started acting a bit off, and few days later, he disappeared without a trace. It was like he never existed in the first place. And as much as we looked, we couldn't find him. It hit us all pretty hard, especially Hayner." Pence stopped at this and Riku felt the guilt come back twofold. "But what am I saying? You guys wanted to know about the strange occurrences right? Well most of them happen around the seven wonders. Six of those can be found in Sunset Terrace. There are two ways to get there, either by taking the train to Sunset Station or by using the Underground Concourse. Unfortunately the underground passages have been locked down for a while, and going by train requires munny for the tickets, so no free rides like before."

"What about the last wonder?" Kairi asked.

"Oh, yeah…_that_. The last wonder is the mansion in the outskirts of town. You can reach it through the hole in Tram Common, but I really don't recommend going there. The place has been locked away anyways, so it's really just a waste of time." Pence said.

"Well thanks for everything Pence." Kairi said.

"Glad to be of help, just promise me you guys will be careful." Pence said.

"We will be, don't worry." Kairi assured the teen. They all said their goodbyes and left right afterwards.

"So what do you guys think?" Kairi asked once Riku made sure they were alone and out of hearing range.

"Personally, I don't like it." Riku replied truthfully. 'But I would like to know what Naminé thinks."

Kairi concentrated once more before replying. "She says that it's very possible that one of the fragments is in one of those places. She says that the events that took place there were important to Roxas at the time, because that's when his life went from 'normal' to 'hopelessly crazy'. She says it was the time when he really began to doubt himself and everything around him."

"I'm surprised they still remember Roxas." King Mickey commented. "I suppose Ansem the Wise didn't reset the town."

"Speaking of that, what did Olette mean by 'familiar'? None of you have ever entered the simulation, and when I did, I was trapped as Xenahort." Riku asked.

"Yeah, that was weird." Kairi admitted.

"I think I have an explanation for that as well." Mickey said.

"What is it?" Goofy asked.

"Well, when Ansem the Wise created this town, he gathered data on everybody in an attempt to recreate everyone's hearts inside of the simulation. I suppose he did this as an experiment, most likely to see just how similar the town would be to its original. Though the heart is complex and unpredictable, he did manage it. But unfortunately, I doubt he had any idea of what the consequences would be. I think that the recreated hearts somehow managed to form links to their original counter parts. According to what the real group from Twilight Town told us, they were already aware of Roxas and not only that, but they hazily recalled memories from their simulation counterparts. That could mean that the same goes to anybody here." Mickey finished.

"That there sounds a bit complicated." Goofy said, scratching his head.

"He means that the hearts of the people here are connected to the hearts of the real people outside." Donald squawked.

"I still find that hard to believe. I mean aren't these people really just data?" Riku asked.

"Well when we stepped in here we also became data. And besides, Ansem did say the heart acted in unpredictable ways. It's just like a resonance between two tuning forks. When one vibrates making a sound, the other will start vibrating too because they have the same frequency." Mickey explained. "Though judging by what they mentioned, the effect is small."

"I still don't get it." Goofy said and Donald face palmed.

"They feel like they lived the things that happened in here." Donald clarified.

"Oooohh. Why didn't you just say so?" Goofy said.

"Either way, it looks like we will have to head over to Sunset terrace." Riku said. "But none of us have money for the train, so we might just have to sneak into the underground passages. The real problem is that there is a chance those passages don't actually exist."

"What do you mean Riku?" Mickey asked.

"It's just like I said. There are sections of this town that D-Ansem the Wise never recreated, like the beach for example. All that there is in its place is a large void in space. That's why I had to stop them from going there. The last time I checked, the passages were closed off as well. We could still open them with our keyblades, but…there is a chance that Ansem didn't even recreate them, or at least _most_ of them." Riku explained.

"Yeah, but we can't exactly go get munny from jobs either. We just don't have that kind of time. I say we should just risk it, and deal with it when we get there." Kairi proposed.

"I agree, if we find anything we can't handle, we can always just turn back." Mickey said.

In the end everyone agreed. Since Riku remembered the place better than anyone, they all followed him back to the street near the empty Usual Spot where one of the entrances was closed under lock. Riku almost scoffed at the pathetic attempt to keep them out. He doubted he even needed the Keyblade's unlocking ability, one good swing could break the puny lock right off. Still, he doubted that the townsfolk, real or not, would approve of that, so in the end he just used Way to the Dawn.

"We are going to need some light." Riku grunted as he lifted the heavy metal shutter so everyone could pass.

"I'm on it." Donald squawked as he took out his staff. A light orange glow emanated from the tip as if it had been caught in the middle of casting a fire spell.

"Good." Riku grunted as he lowered the heavy metal behind him when the last of the group passed through.

* * *

Sora let his body drop in the soft sand below him, his lungs were gasping for breath, while the warm sand clung to his now wet clothes. He silently wondered how a simple game of tag turned into a full blown water fight, one that ended with him being pushed off the side of the bridge and into the salty seawater below.

'_And it was Kairi the one that pushed me too.'_ Sora grumbled. _'Still, she did sorta make up for it with those sandwiches she brought. I didn't realize just how hungry I was.'_

After getting pushed into the sea, he took a quick 'shower' under the waterfall just to get rid of the salt that would no doubt make his clothes itch afterwards. Once he was salt-free and dripping wet, he decided to dry himself in the sun.

'_It feels so good.'_ Sora thought. He gave a mighty yawn before closing his eyes and basking in the sunlight. _'I'm so tired too.'_

After a day filled with activities, Sora was now starting to feel its effects. They raced on the other side of the beach again. Then they had a three on three 'Blitzball' match between Kairi, Riku and himself versus Tidus, Wakka, and Sephie. While they enjoyed the game a lot, at times they were sure Tidus was really just making rules up on the spot. After that, they all played 'Capture the Flag', and then a final round of 'Hide and Seek' before the other trio had to leave. Then, of course, came the aforementioned game of tag and the unexpected dip.

Sora really couldn't believe just how tired he was. Everything felt so much more taxing, and he felt somewhat uncoordinated with his self. Not to mention his early rise this morning had really come back to bite him in the butt. A part of him kept telling himself that he was too old to be playing like that on the beach and that he had more urgent things to be doing at the moment. It made him feel like he was forgetting something very important. Sora had no idea where those thoughts had come from, but he pushed them aside. He was with his friends, what could be more important than that?

'_I think I will take a nap.'_ Sora thought as he yawned once more. '_Then I might remember.'_

Stretching more comfortably on the sand, and with his arms making a makeshift pillow, Sora's consciousness soon faded to black. The last things he recalled seeing was a dark blue flame and a pair of yellow colored eyes.

* * *

The group walked warily through the labyrinth of tunnels. By Mickey's orders everyone made sure to stick close to Donald, who was holding the only real source of light in the darkness. Riku himself made sure to mind his steps, there was no way of knowing when the floor would suddenly give in to reveal an eternal void underneath.

"Er, Riku? Is that supposed be look like that?" Kairi asked as she pointed to a wall, or rather a spot where the wall should have been.

"No. No it's not." Riku answered. The stretch of wall had been replaced by a large void, though Riku doubted it ever existed. Even the walls surrounding the spot looked oddly two-dimensional. "We should be careful. I don't think this place was fully built."

"This place is like a maze! I mean, I can't really tell where we are right now." Kairi said.

"Well, it IS hard to see the numbers and signs that mark the exits in this darkness." Mickey admitted. "Thankfully, most of us have been through these tunnels…well, more like their real version equivalent, but you get what I mean."

"Yeah, far as I can tell, we're almost there, ahyuk." Goofy said. "We just have to turn right at the next turn."

"No, we have to turn left." Donald squawked.

"Whoops." Goofy said with a chuckle.

"Doesn't matter, the exit is right up ahead anyways." Mickey pointed out.

Riku looked up to see that Mickey was right. He could see some light coming from up ahead. It was faint, but it was still there.

"What is that?" Kairi asked.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look like a fragment." Riku replied, looking offhandedly. His eyes turned towards the road ahead and his eyes widened as he saw his redheaded friend´s foot hover over a void of black. "Kairi!"

The redhead´s violet-blue eyes widened as her body began to feel the pull of gravity in the absence of solid ground. Reflexes kicked in and Riku quickly reached out to grab his falling friend. He managed to snatch her arm with a firm grip and with the other he grabbed Goofy's arm for leverage. A good thing too, if he had grabbed Mickey, chances were all three of them would be making their way down the abyss right now. It really wasn´t a matter of strength, but of body mass.

"Hold on tight, I'm gonna pull you up." Riku said and then turned towards the Disney Trio. "You guys pull me by the waist so I can hoist her with both hands."

The three nodded and Riku began to pull with all his might. He felt sweat trickle down his brow as he hefted Kairi up. She wasn't really all that heavy. No, the real problem, Riku realized, was him. He was tired and wasn't exactly on his turf. But more than that, he felt something in the air. It had been present for a while now, even back when they left Radiant Garden. It was like an intangible presence that filled the air and set a heavy weight over him, like a stubborn rock standing before the crashing waves of the sea. It smothered and weakened him and it had been doing so for a while. He just hadn't realized. Deep down he had kept resisting the invisible force, but what exactly was he fighting against?

Just then, Riku felt it. It was like a jolt of thunder that ran through his body. It was like his body had just been plunged in ice, even though he could swear his body was burning. He almost let go of Kairi altogether, but thankfully he didn't. He wouldn't have forgiven himself if he had. Instead, he felt renewed strength run through his veins. There was something almost tangible that was running through his body now, something familiar and yet unwanted. With a strong pull, he heard a small yelp and felt a weight land on top of him.

"Sorry Riku." Kairi said as she got off of him with the help of the Disney trio. He got off the ground afterwards and when he saw Kairi's face, he was greeted with confusion in those blue depths.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked.

"Your eyes…they're gold again." Kairi said softly, though there was a hint of worry under the calm surface.

Riku couldn't see it for himself, but it was clear by the looks the others were giving him that it was true. His mind quickly went towards the odd feeling from earlier and the feeling of familiarity tugging at the back of his head. It was then that his brain was able to connect the dots.

"The darkness…" Riku muttered to himself, but he knew the others must have heard it.

"Riku, are you okay?" Kairi asked with a worry tinged voice.

Riku knew he couldn't lie to her. Kairi was sensitive to these kinds of things. There was no point in trying to fool her. "The darkness is getting stronger."

It was Mickey that broke the silence that followed. The small king turned towards the silver haired boy and gave a nod. "Riku, I think it's best that you hold back from fighting for now."

Riku sighed, and gave a reluctant nod. As much as he hated it, he knew it was the best for everyone at the moment.

"Now how do we cross this gap?" Mickey asked the group. "Donald why don't you throw a fire spell and see how big the hole is?"

The duck complied, and when the fireball collided against the floor, they were all glad to see that it was a jumping-distance away.

"But how will we see where we jump?" Goofy asked.

"I have an idea." Kairi said as she took out her charm. The ethereal glow coming from the shells managed to light up a section of the tunnel. "I forgot this glowed. But we can use it to guide the jumps. I can jump first and keep that side illuminated for the others to jump while Donald keeps this side lit up. Then Donald can jump last when everyone else has made it to the other side."

"Sounds good, but are you sure you can make it? You didn't get hurt from the fall earlier did you?" Riku asked.

"My wrist is a bit sore, but otherwise I'm fine." Kairi assured the group.

"Fine. But be careful." Riku warned and the girl just flashed him a very Sora-like smile.

Kairi calculated the distance and then jumped over the gap. The others followed soon afterwards, with Donald at the end. They continued walking, avoiding a few holes here and there, until they reached the section of the tunnel where the light was coming from. After getting closer, they realized it was actually some light leaking from behind the closed off exit. They wasted no time in opening the exit, like Riku did earlier, and when they made it through the other side, they found themselves in a fully lit area. There was a tunnel that continued straight towards another source of light, while to the right was a large square shaped space with some water flowing at the edges.

"Guess we made it." Riku mused. At Kairi's questioning glance, he elaborated. "We are still underground, but if we continue in that way, we'll reach Sunset Terrace. Thing is, one of the Seven Wonders is here. There's no fragment is sight though, so I guess we should move-"

Riku stopped quickly before moving to the side as something blue blurred past him. The others were alerted quickly and brought out their weapons of choice. Riku dodged another strike and took a glance at his attacker. He vaguely recognized him (or at least he assumed it was a he) as one of that blonde guy's followers, not Hayner, the other rather annoying one with the white overcoat and diagonal scar on his face. This guy was short enough to be a kid, but his facial features were completely obscured by a patched up wizard hat. Only a pair of glowing amber eyes could be seen underneath. Actually, because of the long blue coat, baggy pants, and gloved hands, there was very little Riku could tell about his opponent. He was preoccupied with the strikes the small mage kept dealing with the padded blue bat-like sword Riku recognized as a 'Struggle Bat'.

"Gawrsh, it's Vivi!" Goofy cried out before blocking a strike from the small mage.

"Something isn't right." Mickey said as he struck the mage and the mage disappeared only to be replaced by two more Vivis.

"I can't feel any sort of light inside of them." Kairi said in surprise as she blocked a hit.

"That's because these aren't Vivi." Riku said, angry for promising to stay out of the fight. "Something like this happened when I was with DiZ. This is nothing more than a bug, a glitch."

The more they struck, the more Vivis appeared. Thankfully, one hit was enough to do them in, so Donald's thunder spells were extremely useful. A few more rounds later and there were no Vivis left.

"Are you guys alright?" Riku said as he gave the group some potions.

"Just tired and a bit bruised." Kairi replied.

"I have a feeling this isn't the last glitch we'll see." Mickey stated.

"I don't doubt it. I think all these 'wonders' are a result of the glitches that Ansem never fixed." Riku said.

"Well, we should be able to fight them though." Donald said.

"Just like in Tron's world." Goofy added.

"You're both right, but I still think we should avoid wasting time and dealing with those places." Riku replied.

"But what if those glitches are harmful for the people here?" Kairi asked. "We should fix them. Maybe it's our fault they are even showing up."

"Well, she's got a point. Data or not, these are still people." Mickey said thoughtfully.

Riku wasn't sure how to reply to that, but in the end gave in. After all, Sora would've done it. "Fine, but let's be quick about it."

The group walked through the tunnel that led to the outside and they were then greeted by the sleepy twilight the town was known for. Around them, people went about their daily business while a small rail train traveled back and forth through the long area. The group turned left and began walking through the streets until they reached a long abandoned alley.

"Guys stop." Riku said and everyone stopped in their tracks, confusion plainly written across their faces.

Kairi was the first one to give an understanding look and took a step away from the alley. Riku assumed that Naminé had just told her. The same did not go for the Disney Trio, who was quickly surprised by the onslaught of balls from the empty alley. Well, Donald and Goofy were taken by complete surprise, Mickey wasn't. While Goofy received a comical hit to the head, Donald was slammed by one of the large balls, leaving several stray feathers in his wake. Mickey however, as the most agile in the group, jumped nimbly over the balls, dodging almost effortlessly until he reached the end of the alley and pointed his Keyblade at the wall. A light emanated from the tip and once it hit the brick, the onslaught stopped completely.

"Well, two down, five to go." Mickey said, brushing up some dust from his clothes before walking towards the group.

"Why couldn't you just warn us beforehand." Donald squawked angrily while glaring at the now golden-eyed boy.

"I did." Riku said shrugging.

The group continued until reaching the station steps, which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. It was a glitch, but the only possible way it could endanger someone was if that person tripped over the glitched steps and fell down the stairs. It was easy to repair with the Keyblade though.

The group turned back and retraced their steps to the tunnel entrance. From there they worked their way to the area they had yet to visit. Particularly to a small secluded block, recognizable only by the large decorative water fountain on one of the walls. A fountain which also happened to be linked to one of the seven wonders. The fountain was really more like a small waterfall which ran over some sort of smooth surface that easily showed a person's reflection.

Riku made sure to explain everyone what this glitch was. Not just because of what happened in the alley, but mainly because this 'wonder' was more dangerous.

"So you're saying this fountain makes a copy of whoever is reflected, and the only way to fix this glitch is to defeat that copy?" Kairi asked and Riku gave a nod. "Alright then, I'll do it."

"Kairi-" Riku began, but was interrupted by the redhead.

"Riku, I have to do this. I know I have less experience than you or Sora as a Keyblade Wielder, but I can fight. I'm not going to keep dragging the team down, I can do this." Kairi insisted.

"Kairi, you're not dragging anyone down, and this isn't some kind of test. You've never faced this type of oppo-" Riku started but was interrupted by Mickey.

"That's okay Riku. Let's see how it goes." Mickey said and then turned to the red head. "Kairi, Riku's right though. This isn't a test, and we are a team. As a team we will jump in to help you if we see you need it. We can't afford losing manpower, especially how things are like now. Understand?"

"Okay, I understand." Kairi said and she walked over to the small square.

Riku felt the darkness as the mirror like surface pulsated slightly and the replica appeared. It was an exact copy of Kairi, only pitch black and malevolent. It immediately lunged and the red-head, who was taken by surprised, and only managed to block sloppily with Destiny's Embrace. Realizing this, Kairi returned the strike with much more force, only this time the replica dodged out of the way, making the Princess of the Heart briefly lose her footing.

'_Come on Kairi, I know you are better than this.'_ Riku thought to himself as he saw Kairi fight the copy. She had lost her footing more than once, which was not something you would want to do in a swordfight, her hits were wild and made with little preparation, but even worse was the girl's concentration. Usually when sparring, Kairi had no problems. Right now she was really worrying him. The copy had already struck a few hits on the girl and he was really starting to wonder if this was a good idea. _'Why did Mickey insist? More importantly, why is she doing so badly?'_

Part of him wanted to just go up there and slash the copy in two with Way to the Dawn. Every time he saw Kairi slip, his fingers began to twitch for his blade. But the alarming part was that the darkness was responding too. It knew he wanted to fight. He didn't know if he was manipulating it unconsciously or it was somehow trying to tempt him by flowing through him like that.

Riku saw the replica deliver another hit at his friend and he began to feel the anger surge from him. It didn't help that he had been set on such a short fuse lately. Or maybe that was really just a side effect of what was happening to him now.

This time Kairi delivered a direct hit, but the victory was short-lived as the copy retaliated with another strike. Riku's hand once again twitched for his Keyblade, but this time he couldn't stop the flow of energy to his hand, causing a mild tingling sensation. Riku, confused by the foreign feeling, lifted his hand to inspect it. It was then his eyes widened in shock. His right fist was completely covered by a layer of flickering purplish-black flames.

Riku quickly shook his hand and dispelled the energy. He could practically taste the darkness radiating from it. Surprisingly, none of the others noticed. But maybe it was because they were too busy watching over Kairi's fight, which had curiously improved too. Not only because Donald decided to step in and heal her.

It was then that Riku finally understood why Mickey did this. Kairi was obviously fighting poorly because she was so conflicted. With all that had been happening lately, it was no wonder really. Sora had been like that too when they were first separated from each other. The difference was, Sora had a lot more experience in fighting even during those times. Kairi was more focused now, more aware of her opponent's actions, and as a direct result, the fight was now going in her favor.

Kairi ducked under a swipe and delivered a quick strike to the copy's legs. The strike was blocked, but Kairi had been anticipating that and with a mighty kick to its midsection, the copy staggered back, giving Kairi the perfect opportunity to deliver a powerful finishing blow, thus ending the battle.

"Well done." Mickey said as Donald healed Kairi once more.

"Thanks, now I understand why you let me do this too." Kairi said as she wiped some sweat off her brow.

"That's right." Mickey said. "And I suppose we should get back to what we were doing. Clearly there was no fragment here. So, where to now Riku?"

"Next 'wonder' is the 'Animated Bag' in Sunset Hill. It's just up that those stairs." Riku said as he pointed towards where their next destination was.

They walked past the stairs and then up a steep slope to get to the top of the hill. There, almost as if waiting for them, was a large sack. The moment they got close though, the sack seemed to gain a life of its own as it dashed away and hoped around the area.

"Don't worry, Donald and I will take care of this one." Goofy said as him and Donald rushed at the sack.

"It will be over soon enough." Donald squawked.

It really was over soon, but not before giving spectators a good laugh. Though Riku didn't outwardly show it, he was laughing on the inside. There was something absolutely hilarious about watching Donald and Goofy try catching a large bouncing bag. He had no idea what was funnier, Goofy's odd cry as he frantically held on, or Donald's unintelligible curses as the bag rammed into him, sending feathers flying everywhere. Most likely the second. Still, part of him wondered if the two were really trying to make him and Kairi feel better, because through the whole ordeal, they insisted that they stay put. Riku honestly felt grateful towards the odd pair.

'_I wonder if they cheer Sora up like that too.'_ Riku wondered.

"Bark!"

Riku turned towards the dog that was inside the bag. It was really a good thing Donald didn't use magic on the sack. Still, that dog had some serious horse power. Goofy was now petting it gently, whilst Donald, who was still angry about the whole thing, just glared daggers at it. Riku wondered what kind of person would do such a thing. He knew that last time it had been a Dusk in disguise, but the Nobodies were no longer influencing the town, so he was pretty sure this dog was real. Well, as real as they could get inside a computer simulation.

"I think we should find this little guy's owner." Kairi said as she petted the brown and white long haired dog.

"Are you sure it even has an owner? I mean someone did put it in a sack." Riku answered, though inside he was wondering exactly what breed the dog was. _'Some kind of Collie?'_

Riku shrugged, he wasn't exactly an expert at this sort of thing.

"Oh, Jenna! There you are, I'm been looking all over for you!" A woman said as she caught sight of the dog.

"Ma'am, is this your dog?" Mickey asked and the woman nodded.

"Yes, my daughter was supposed to be playing with her, but Jenna suddenly disappeared." The woman said.

"Well you might want to be careful with her, we found her inside that sack." Mickey pointed out.

The woman looked horrified for a few moments before she turned towards the group. "That's awful, but I must really thank you for finding her. Rosie will be very happy to know she is back. I'd like to thank you all for your troubles."

"No ma'am, it's alright, we couldn't possibly-" Mickey was saying, but was interrupted by the woman's insistent pleas. After a few minutes, Mickey had no choice but to give it, and the woman gave him a pouch filled with munny. "Well, with this I guess we can take the train back."

"Yeah but minus the mansion there is still a wonder left." Donald began. "Where is it?"

Riku paused as if listening for something, before motioning the group towards the area at the top of the hill near the small replica of the clock tower. From there they all had a great view of their surroundings and even the train tracks running below. "That's the next wonder."

"That's Master Yen Sid's train!" Donald squawked in surprise.

"Yeah, this is actually a work of Ansem the Wise, so I doubt it will have any harmful effects on the town." Riku said absentmindedly as he looked down at the small purple and gold train with a starry theme. "There is nothing else here so I think we should head back. Bit of a waste of time really. I think we must've missed something."

"While I don't think this was a complete waste, I do agree with Riku. We must've missed something-" Kairi stated, but was then interrupted by a voice calling from behind the group.

"Hey it's you guys!" Turning around the group came to face with Pence. Behind him was Olette and a slightly sour-looking Hayner.

"Hey, nice to see you guys again." Kairi said as they approached the small group.

"So are you guys waiting for the ghost train?" Pence asked and Kairi nodded, but then stopped when she looked at Hayner. Riku figured she still remembered how the boy reacted earlier.

Seeing the girl's discomfort, Hayner seemed to step up with a surprisingly apologetic look on his face. "Listen, I'm sorry for being a jerk earlier. I really shouldn't have reacted that way. I was hoping we could start all over."

The blonde stretched his hand over as a sign of friendship, and Kairi quickly took it. Riku reconsidered his thoughts about the boy. It looked like he wasn't so bad after all.

"So we were actually going to head back now. Are you guys going to stay here for a while longer?" Olette asked.

"No, we're pretty much done here. We were planning to head back anyways." Kairi said.

"Let's go together then!" Olette said.

They all headed back together afterwards. They walked all the way to Sunset Station, where Mickey bought the tickets for the group. Afterwards they boarded the orange shaded train back to the main part of town.

"Hey, Riku right?" Pence asked as he approached the silver-haired boy. Riku nodded. "You know, I could have sworn your eyes were a different color earlier."

Riku regarded the chuckling boy before him, before replying with a small chuckle of his own. "Really? I think you must be seeing things."

They got off the train once reaching the station, and from there, the large group headed outside. Meanwhile Riku was raking through his brain for an answer. Just where were the missing fragments? It wasn´t like there were many places left. Maybe there was one in the Sandlot.

"And the view is amazing from up there too…Kairi are you alright?" Olette asked, catching Riku's attention in the process.

"Oh yeah I'm fine." The girl answered sheepishly. "I just spaced out for a moment there."

Riku narrowed his eyes in response. He could tell the girl was covering something up. She was most likely talking to Naminé, not just spacing out. But what exactly did Naminé want to say? It wasn't like the blonde to interrupt Kairi when she was in the middle of a conversation, unless it was urgent of course. Maybe she had some news about the fragments.

"Anyways, I was thinking we could check up the clocktower too." Kairi said.

"Hey, maybe we can all go together." Olette suggested.

"Are you sure? You really don't have to. We really don't want to bother you guys." Kairi said, sending some pleading looks in Riku's direction. Riku quickly understood. There was a fragment on the clocktower. Before he could speak up however, Hayner jumped into the fray.

"Didn't you say you wanted to buy some sweets for your mom earlier? The shop is going to close soon you know?" Hayner said.

"Oh no! That's right, I completely forgot!" Olette said in panic as she looked at the clocktower and saw what time it was. "Is it okay if we meet you guys later? We really have to go, like right _now_!"

" Yeah, we'll see you guys later then." Kairi said as the Twilight Trio said goodbye and ran towards the entrance to Market Street.

"So we are heading up there again right?" Riku asked once the three were out of sight.

"Yeah, Naminé just told me. I'm surprised Olette didn't see it when she checked the time." Kairi replied, not really surprised by how perceptive Riku was.

The group quickly made their way through those dreaded sets of stairs, for about the third time today. First if you counted the fact that these were inside the simulation town. When they reached the top, they were greeted by the beautiful scene of Twilight Town's sunset. It was really too bad they couldn't stop and smell the roses. They had a mission to finish.

"There it is." Kairi said in relief as she saw the light fragment floating over the ledge and thankfully still in reach. She fished out her charm out of her pocket and wasted no time to make the capture.

_Cheer up already!_

_Strange_

_You said it_

_Can you feel Sora?_

_As promised_

_One more treasure for us to share_

_Whoa!_

_Naminé?_

_Who are you? And that's not my name. I'm Kairi_

_Okay, Roxas, but can you tell me HIS name?_

_You don't remember my name? Thanks a lot, Kairi! _

_Okay, I guess I can give you a hint_

_Starts with an "S!"_

Riku shook his head at the end of the memory. Everything always went back to Sora didn't it? For such a simple guy, his life sure was complicated.

'_I wonder why those memories are becoming clearer though.'_ Riku thought to himself. Before listening to the memories was like listening to a broken radio. But now he could hear every word and sentence almost perfectly. _'Maybe it's because of how many fragments we have gathered. The light is no longer as weak as it once was.'_

"How many more?" Mickey asked and Kairi replied by lifting her charm for everybody to see. The third shell was mostly filled with light, but still not quite full.

"Hmmm, must be one missing." Kairi said.

"But what else is there?" Donald asked.

"How about the Sandlot?" Goofy offered.

"Naminé said that Roxas fought Axel there, but she doesn't think there is one there." Kairi said as she shook her head. "Not to mention someone must have noticed it by now if it really was there."

"Yeah, half the town would be screaming about ghosts. Maybe we missed something in the real town." Riku said.

"I dunno, we were pretty thorough." Mickey said. "I think we should head back to the Mansion. Maybe we missed it there."

"What other choice do we have?" Riku said shaking his head.

They walked through Market Street and then entered Tram Common. They were about to reach the large hole in the wall when they were interrupted by a voice. A very cocky voice Riku was sure he heard at least once before. When he finally recognized the voice and turned around, he honestly felt like slamming his head repeatedly against a blunt object, or even better, slam _his_ face repeatedly onto a blunt object. It was _Seifer_.

"Well, look what we've got here. Going to check the Mansion? I heard there was a strange group of outsiders. I didn't think it was true, since there haven't been any in ages, but I just had to come see for myself." The blonde said with a smug grin as he eyed the group. "So what business do you have in Twilight Town?"

"Sorry, but that's really none of your business." Riku replied smoothly, while the anger in the pit of his stomach flared violently. Swiftly he motioned everyone to leave.

"Where do you think you're going?" Seifer said.

"Halt." The pale haired, red-eyed girl next to him said.

"There ain't nothing but that creepy mansion over there, you know?" The muscular tanned teen next to Seifer said.

"We heard about these strange things happening there and wanted to check it out. Now, if you'll excuse us." Mickey said politely before turning around.

"That's pretty suspicious if you ask me. As leader of the Disciplinary Committee I'll have to take matters into my own hands." Seifer said and pointed his Struggle bat at Riku, while at the same time throwing one at the teen's shoes.

Like two territorial lions confronting each other, Riku simply could not walk away from the challenge. Part of him told him that the blonde before him was not worth his time and that he should just continue to ignore him since they were still under a time limit, the other part of him was refusing to stand down and argued that the blonde would still not leave them alone until they locked in combat.

'_Guess I'll have to make it quick.'_ Riku reasoned and he picked up the bat. He would much rather use Way to the Dawn, though it may cause some permanent damage to the teen. _'Though that would probably be an improvement.'_

"Riku? Seifer? What's going on you guys?" Riku briefly heard a voice coming from the side lines, while his now-golden eyes remained locked on the blonde's, refusing to look away. Apparently their little brawl had gotten the attention of more than a few bystanders.

"We just finished shopping when we heard you guys." Riku recognized Pence's voice saying.

"We were going to check out the mansion when this guy decided to make it his business." Donald squawked in reply.

"Seifer!" Olette reprimanded.

"Being a jerk as always." Hayner said.

"Can it chicken-wuss. It's not like you could beat me anyways." Seifer growled.

"Oh yeah, well if I recall correctly, you lost to Vivi." Hayner mocked.

"Enough." Seifer yelled.

"Wow, if you fight as well as you yell, then I might actually have a few problems." Riku taunted.

Seifer glared at the silver-haired teen and lunged at him, but Riku was too fast and dodged out of the way.

"Pity your hits aren't as quick as your temper." Riku taunted again as Seifer continued to deliver strike after strike. _'This guy was worse than Sora. At least Sora realized that I taunted him on purpose so he would lose his composure. This guy's short temper will seriously be his downfall one day. Heck, even I am holding back my anger better.'_

That was true, Riku really was angry. But the biggest difference was that Riku had much better control, not to mention that if he lost it, the darkness would literally pour out of him and wreak havoc. In short, he simply couldn't _afford_ to lose it now.

"Time to end this." Riku said and quickly lunged at the enraged blonde.

It was over in just a few seconds. Despite the unfamiliar texture and weight of the weapon he carried, Riku's sharply honed skills were much more superior. As a result, he didn't even break a sweat from the battle, unlike his unlucky opponent.

"Seifer ain't feelin' so hot, y'know!" The tanned teen from earlier said.

"Not ready." The pale-haired girl said.

The two helped lift up the blonde teen, but Seifer stubbornly refused their help. He turned his back on the group, but not before addressing the victor. "Name's Seifer. Your's?"

"Riku." The silver-haired boy said with a smirk. Seifer smirked in response too.

"Well, Riku. I'd give you the trophy, but I'm afraid I'm not really the toughest. Too bad too, you might've actually beaten him were _he_ still here." Seifer said, sending Hayner a smirk before turning again and heading towards the Sandlot with his posse in tow.

"Well, I guess we are free to go now." Riku said and he couldn't help but notice that Hayner hadn't stopped scowling at Seifer's retreating figure.

"That was really amazing, not many people can take Seifer on. But you make it look so easy." Pence said in wonder. "Oh, that reminds me. I came with information for you guys. You were interested in the seven wonders right? That's why you were heading to the mansion?"

Unsure if they should tell the truth, the group just gave a nod.

"Great, then you guys are gonna love this. I just got some info about an 'eighth wonder'!" Pence said with excitement and Riku couldn't help but feel that he wasn't going to like this. "It's near the mansion actually, just outside. They say if you shake this tree, the whole forest will shake! I was thinking about checking it out myself."

"Are you sure you want to do this right now?" Kairi asked while the group exchanged nervous glances.

"Yeah sure, why not? I mean all the other wonders were bogus anyways. And you guys were already planning on checking out the mansion. We could just hit two birds with one stone." Pence reasoned. Hayner and Olette seemed to agree too, though Hayner looked more reluctant.

"Alright then, if you guys are sure." Mickey said with a sigh, indicating that they really had no choice in the matter.

The large group walked through the crack and into the small woods that lead to the mansion. The trees themselves were huge, so large in fact that little light managed to go unfiltered. It was because of this that the woods were so dark. Some may even go as far as call them ´creepy´. It was like those dark dangerous woods one might picture from children stories like ´Little Red Riding Hood´. Only instead of meeting a ferocious talking wolf, Riku was far more worried about another type of enemy. After all, whoever said monsters were not real had likely never met a Heartless.

"I'm sure it has to be one of these." Pence said as he looked back and forth between some trees.

"Wait, so you don't know what tree we are supposed to shake?" Hayner asked.

"Well, no. Not really." Pence said sheepishly. "It can't be so hard."

"Hard? Pence, we are in the middle of a forest filled with trees! This could take forever!" Hayner exclaimed, kicking the nearest tree in frustration.

Much to his surprise and everyone else's, the tree he kicked began to shake before the effect moved quickly to a nearby tree and then another. Soon the whole woods were shaking and leaves were falling from the canopy of branches above. A loud monstrous cry was heard then and Riku twitched as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on edge. It was the same feeling he got whenever confronting a Heartless, and apparently, the others felt it too.

"W-What is that?" Olette asked, fear evident in her eyes.

"Trouble." Riku muttered, just loud enough for the others to hear. Up above, he could see whatever it was, making a path through the trees as it headed over towards the Mansion.

"You three stay here, we'll take care of it." Mickey quickly said, gaining incredulous looks from the trio.

"You guys are joking right? It's dangerous!" Hayner managed to say, but was thoroughly ignored by the group that was now making its way towards the mansion.

The woods around them ran out and gave way to the open space in front of the large abandoned manor. The group quickly withdrew their weapons as a second roar reverberated through the air. It was then that their opponent showed itself for the first time. Like Riku thought, it really was a Heartless, based on the emblem it had on its chest. The heartless was large, much larger than a Neoshadow or maybe even a Large Body. It had the overall appearance of a bipedal chameleon complete with long pink tongue and curly tail. It was dark green in color with yellow eyes, yellow zigzagging lines on its arms and legs, and a series of sharp tan spikes protruding from its back.

Looking back, Riku saw a flaming barrier appear, blocking any attempts of escaping. _'Not good.'_

"Watch out and don't lose track of it!" Mickey quickly ordered, and not a moment too soon because the Heartless quickly became invisible. Had Riku not paid any attention to its movement, he might have gotten knocked off his feet by the creature's tail swipe.

"Riku stand back, you mustn't fight!" Mickey ordered as he got in front of where the chameleon Heartless was supposed to be and hit it with a direct strike of the Keyblade. The Heartless gave a mighty cry of pain before turning visible once more. Riku gave a small nod and reluctantly stood on the sidelines. He knew they were right.

"He's right, we'll take it from here." Kairi said and she struck the Heartless directly on the head with Destiny's Embrace.

"Thunder!" Donald cried as he followed up with a strong thundaga spell.

"Watch out!" Goofy cried out, Donald moved just in time for Goofy to slam his shield onto the Heartless. The creature was slammed back painfully, and fell to the ground unmoving.

"Is it over?" Kairi asked.

"I don't think so." Mickey said, and surely the Heartless slowly picked itself up.

Letting an angry roar, the creature's eyes glowed and then lasers shot out of its eyes, striking both Donald and Goofy, while nearly grazing Kairi.

"Kairi! Are you alright?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, it just took me by surprise, that's all." Kairi replied as she readied her weapon.

Riku noticed how the Heartless's eyes began to glow, and it was then he knew it was preparing an attack. "He's going to attack again!"

The four fighters dodged as soon as they heard Riku's words, Donald and Goofy slower because of their injuries. Thankfully, none of them were hit by the lasers. Mickey used this opportunity to deliver another series of blows at the reptile. The Heartless roared once more in anger, and as if sensing that it was all Riku's fault, the Heartless turned invisible and shot its impossibly long tongue at him. Riku managed to dodge the tongue, but was caught unaware by the series of swipes the Heartless proceeded to deliver with its sharp claws.

"Riku!" Kairi cried out and quickly struck the beast so it would leave her friend alone. Instead she received a tail swipe for her troubles.

"I'm okay." Riku said as Way to the Dawn connected to the creature's face earning a shrill cry of pain from the Heartless. Looking down, Riku saw a series of bleeding scratches on his arms, which he had used to cover his vitals.

"Heal!" Donald said and soon a soothing green light enveloped Riku, Goofy, and himself, effectively healing their injuries.

"Thanks." Riku and Goofy chorused, while Goofy charged at the Heartless again.

The Heartless was knocked over from the powerful hit, and the rest of the fighters used the opportunity to strike their foe while it was down. Donald cast a powerful Blizzaga spell that trapped the Heartless in ice. Kairi delivered a swift jab to its head. Riku delivered a powerful blow to its back. Mickey then delivered a final blow right at the creature's chest, exactly where its emblem was. The creature let out one final cry before disappearing in a burst of data. In its place was a single floating sphere of light.

"No way." Riku said as he looked at the fragment. "So it was here all this time?"

"It looks that way." Mickey answered.

"But if that Heartless had it, how come it wasn't destroyed?" Kairi asked.

"I think that wasn't really a Heartless, at least not a real one, just a data imitation. At some point Ansem the Wise must have accidentally copied its data when making the town. And just like with the other glitches, it decided to show itself right now. It probably tried to imitate a real Heartless by consuming the light fragment, but it couldn't do it because it was nothing more than an imitation." Mickey mused. "I suppose we were lucky it wasn't real. If it had been real, it could have destroyed it."

Kairi looked deep in thought for a moment before snapping out of it and taking out her charm. "Let's not waste any time then."

_The time has come! Our hunt for the seven wonders begins!_

_Aren't these the steps you talked about? The ones that count different going up and down?_

_Were you throwing a ball? That ball flew out of nowhere and totally startled me_

_Vivi?_

_there were so many of you..._

_You all right?_

_I thought I saw someone, but it was just my reflection_

_Another...me?_

_You know...that last wonder wasn't exactly wonderful_

_Why does looking at you always tick me off?_

_Maybe it's destiny_

_It's really true... and there's really no one aboard! What's the catch? There's gotta be a catch, right?_

_You know something... we were gonna check the mansion out tomorrow. _

_It IS the most suspicious place._

_They say there's a girl who appears at the second floor window even though no one's lived here for years_

_Roxas…_

When the flow of memories ended, Riku honestly felt a headache forming. That was possibly the longest memory until now. There was so much confusion in that memory all mixed in with feelings of helplessness. It was like knowing that your life was spiraling down a hole and yet you were powerless to do anything about it. Riku could relate to that, most people could in fact. Who didn't want the comfort of knowing you had some semblance of control in your own life?

'_Well at least now I know why there were no fragments in Sunset Terrace.'_ Riku thought.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!"

The group turned around in shock, only to face three very shocked looking teens, the same teens that were told to stay in the forest earlier for their own safety. Riku had completely forgotten about the barrier disappearing after the Heartless's defeat. Which meant…

'_They witnessed everything afterwards.'_ Riku realized with horror. They had been caught red-handed.

"We don't know what you are talking about." Donald finally broke the awkward silence that settled.

"Donald." Goofy reprimanded.

"You don't know?" Hayner said angrily. "What about that monster? Or the wall of fire that kept us out? And what about that freakish ball of light? I know what I heard."

"Are you guys responsible for the weird things happening in town?" Pence asked quietly.

"It's more complicated than that." Riku answered quietly.

"Just who are you?" Olette said, her voice laced with hurt.

They all looked at Mickey, the unofficial leader of their group, who just sighed and gave them a nod.

"To answer your questions, that monster is called a Heartless. Basically they are the darkness in people's hearts made real. The wall that kept you guys out was the Heartless's way of keeping us from running away. That freakish ball of light is the reason we are here." Riku said, not going into details because it would take forever and they didn't have that time.

"The weird things that happened to this town weren't our doing, at least not directly. We don't mean this town any harm, and in fact, we were trying to stop them from happening again." Mickey answered next. "As for who we are, like we said, we're not from this Town. In reality, we are from different worlds. Riku, Kairi, and I are Keyblade Wielders. It's our job to maintain the order and take care of anything that threatens the balance between the worlds, just like the Heartless."

"But you said you were here because of that light! And why could we hear ourselves and Roxas? Do you have anything to do with why he is gone?" Hayner said while curling his hand into a fist.

"There's not need to get angry. Roxas is our friend too you know." Kairi said, surprising the three teens. "It's… very complicated. Roxas shared a special bond with a friend of ours who is also a Keyblade Wielder. It's because of that bond that he had to leave this town. Another group wanted to get him too, that's why those weird things started happening to this town."

"You mean, like those memory thieves?" Pence asked and Kairi nodded. "So they really were trying to steal Roxas."

"But why hasn't he come back then? He could at least visit us. At least tell us that he's fine." Hayner shouted.

"We've been so worried about him." Olette said.

"Like we said, its complicated. But if it makes you feel any better, he really does care about you three. Those light fragments carry memories that he considers special, and you've been in quite a few." Riku said, earning surprised looks from the three. "Now if we are done here, we should really get going. We're still on a time limit."

"Why is that? What's wrong?" Olette asked.

"Our friend is in trouble, and by extension so is Roxas." Kairi said.

"Let us come with you. We could help." Pence said, but Mickey shook his head.

"I'm afraid we can't do that. It's not allowed to, not to mention extremely dangerous." Mickey said. "But don't worry, we will accomplish our mission."

"But-" Hayner said, but was interrupted by Riku.

"I understand how you feel. But you have to understand that even if you did come, you have no experience fighting the Heartless, and we simply have no time to prepare any of you for that sort of thing." Riku said.

The crestfallen trio looked at the rest of the group who all nodded. After they exchanged a look amongst themselves, Hayner stepped forth and gave a defeated sigh. "Fine, but you guys just make sure you don't fail. And next time you see Roxas, tell that bonehead to come visit us, it´s really not the same without him."

"Don't worry, we will." Kairi assured them with a smile. Riku nodded as well.

"Take care. It was really nice meeting you all." Olette said.

"Likewise." Riku said.

"Goodbye. I hope we can see each other again soon." Pence said.

The group said their farewells, and then headed back through the iron gates. After closing the gates behind them, they gave one final wave at the three teens on the other side, before entering the manor once more.

"Why did you tell them Roxas would come?" Riku asked Kairi, who just shrugged.

"I was thinking that maybe we could have someone fix the simulation. And maybe figure out a way for Roxas to visit them." Kairi said.

"Hmmm, maybe we could ask Cid. He _is_ an expert when it comes to computers." Mickey said as they entered through the secret computer laboratory. "Well, now that we have all the fragments we should head back and find him."

Kairi nodded and took out her charm. She took one good glance at it and stopped in her tracks.

"Huh, Kairi what's wrong?" Riku asked, noticing the look of confusion on the redhead's face. He didn't like it at all.

"There's one more." She said, her eyebrows drawn together in a frown. "Look."

Showing the charm to the others, they all saw what she was referring to. The third shell, the one belonging to Twilight Town was glowing a strong white light. But upon closer inspection, there was a tiny space at its tip that had yet to light up. It was almost impossible to see, and the only reason they even saw it was because that shell was not glowing as brightly as its two neighbors.

"But where can it be? We looked just about everywhere." Riku asked.

"Maybe another Heartless caught it." Goofy suggested.

"No way!" Donald squawked.

"Hmm, he's right. The chances of that happening are very slim." Mickey said. "What does Naminé think about this?"

Kairi stopped for a few seconds, a frown etched on her face. After a few minutes passed, she gave a sigh.

"She says that there is definitely one more. But she can't sense it nearby." Kairi said in exasperation. "It's like it's still in this town, but it's not quite here either."

"It is here, but it isn't." Riku mused at the seemingly paradoxical statement. _'So it has to be a part of Twilight Town that isn't really Twilight Town. That's tough, even the simulation Twilight Town is considered a part of this world. Maybe it's in Yen Sid's Tower, that place is in another space altogether, but it's impossible to get inside at the moment.'_

Riku looked around the room in hopes of finding any clues. It was then that his gaze landed on the door to the capsule room, his eyes widening in realization.

'_Wasn't there a portal back there?'_ Riku thought and then he nodded to himself. '_Yes there is. The__n,__ could it be?'_

"That doesn't help!" Donald squawked angrily, but was interrupted by Riku.

"Actually, it does." He said and motioned everyone to follow him. "Guys, I think I have an idea."

He led the group to the room with the portal, and once in there, it was Kairi the first one to realize what he was talking about, the other quickly followed suit.

"Wait, are you saying we head over to the World that Never Was?" Donald asked. "But what about the fragment?"

Mickey smiled and turned towards the duck. He too caught on to what Riku had implied. "The reason we are heading there is because that passageway _is_ a part of Twilight Town. That passageway between the worlds is and isn't a part of Twilight Town."

"So the fragment _has_ to be there!" Goofy concluded.

"It's not anywhere else." Riku said. "We've eliminated all other options. _This_ is what's left."

"Naminé agrees. I just can't believe we didn't think about it sooner." Kairi said.

"Come on, let's go!" Mickey said and the group quickly entered through the portal.

* * *

Roxas sighed as he looked at the setting sun. It reminded him so much of Twilight Town. He didn't know why, but he had been thinking so much about that place lately, even the simulation town. Sora was probably the only one that knew, well him and maybe Naminé. In reality, he was grateful for the time he spent in the fake Twilight Town. He managed to live like a normal teen, even if it was just for a bit less than a week. He had real 'somebody' friends that hung out with him and ate ice-cream with. It had been fun while it lasted.

If he had to describe what it made him feel, something he was never really good with because of his 'upbringing', he would have to describe it as a very bittersweet feeling. It was just like a sea-salt ice-cream. It was both salty and yet sweet. Axel would probably laugh at his analogy, but he didn't really care. He wasn't really much of a poet to begin with. Any good Nobody knew you needed feelings for that, so knowing poetry was never much of a priority in the Organization. The only other Nobody he ever saw interested in such things was Zexion, and Roxas was never really close to him.

'_**I wonder what the others are doing.'**_ Roxas mused as he looked at the sky. _'__**I hope they get back soon.'**_

Sora had been completely unresponsive lately and it was really starting to worry him. It was just not right seeing the brunette laying on that bed unmoving. Everything about it felt wrong. Sora wasn't meant to be stuck on a bed like that. He was meant to run around with his bright goofy personality, and experience all kinds of exciting and oftentimes weird adventures.

"Roxas!" Called a voice and the blonde turned to see who it was. Jumping up to the roof where he currently sat was Yuffie. "There you are."

"**Hey. Did you need something?"** Roxas asked curiously.

"No, not really. Aerith just came to tell me to tell you that dinner will be ready soon." Yuffie said.

"**Thanks, I'll be down soon."** Roxas answered.

"Great, I'll go tell Leon now. See ya." Yuffie said before disappearing in a puff of smoke, making Roxas roll his eyes while a smile tugged on his lips.

* * *

The next thing the group knew was that they were in a strange multicolored plane, with switching colors, a transparent floor, and Nobody emblems running through the nonexistent walls. At the far side was a dark portal, while behind them was a blinding wall of light. but what interested them the most was what floated in the middle of the large space.

"There is it!" Kairi exclaimed. Riku looked surprised for a moment. He couldn't help but think that it was too easy.

'_On second thought, I prefer it this way.' _Riku mused.

Fishing out her charm and raising it in front of the fragment. A blinding light once again filled their vision as the memory began.

_What is this place?_

_Riku! Kairi!_

_Don't stop moving or the darkness will overtake you!_

_Why?_

_Don't ask. Just do it!_

_You're...fading away..._

_I digress_

_Go, find Kairi. Oh, almost forgot... Sorry for what I did to her_

_Axel, what were you trying to do?_

_I wanted to see Roxas. He...was the only one I liked... _

_He made me feel...like I had a heart._

_It's kind of...funny... You make me feel...the same... _

_Axel…_

When the solemn memory finished, Riku quickly went to comfort Kairi who now had fresh tear trails on her cheeks. Rubbing small circles on her back, the red head soon stopped, though her eyes had yet to lose their puffy appearance. He understood how she felt, though he was a lot better at hiding it. He always had been.

'_I always thought Nobodies were all emotionless creatures, with Naminé and Roxas being special cases. But I guess Axel just proved how wrong I was.'_ Riku thought. _'I regret never thanking him properly though. We weren't so different after all.'_

"Come on, we should-" Mickey began, but was interrupted when the colorful passage began shaking violently.

"Everyone return to the portal!" Riku shouted. He knew exactly what was happening. Somehow, after all this time, the corridor had become unstable. And now it was collapsing right on top of them.

The group ran as quick as they could towards the light, but when it was a few feet away from them, the light simply vanished in a show of sparks, leaving nothing but an endless corridor of color and emblems right behind it.

"Everyone head to the other one!" Mickey shouted quickly, not needing to repeat himself. Riku agreed, ending up in a world filled with Heartless was a lot better than being stuck between worlds with no escape.

The group ran quickly towards the portal as the tunnel continued to shake more violently with each passing second. Riku felt his own lungs burn and his legs sting from overexertion, but he chose to ignore them and focus on surviving.

'_Almost there!'_ Riku told himself as the dark portal started coming closer and closer.

Looking to his side he saw that Kairi and Mickey were next to him followed by Goofy and then Donald lagging behind in the rear. The duck just wasn't built for speed. Looking right behind him, Riku saw with morbid fascination as the tunnel began collapsing on itself. The colorful background and floating Nobody emblems all seemed to shatter and fly towards the massive black vortex that was quickly forming on the back.

"Come on faster!" Riku shouted as he realized that at this rate they weren't going to make it.

The group sped up, adrenaline flowing freely through their systems. The black hole behind them quickly began to grow at an alarming rate, and by the time he reached the portal, he could already see the walls around the portal start disappearing.

"Kairi go!" Riku said as the girl reached the portal. She gave a hesitant look behind her, but then disappeared through the opening. Mickey followed quickly, and then finally came a panting Goofy. Riku looked over at the duck and noticed with horrid realization that he was not going to make it.

Riku bit back a curse, partially hating himself for what he was about to do. The silver-haired teen ran towards the duck, as fast as his legs could possibly allow. Donald just looked at him in stupor as the teen closed in on him.

"I'm sorry for this." Riku said, leaving o time for Donald to wonder as the teen grabbed the duck by the scruff of his neck and gathered as much strength as he could to toss him into the portal. The duck let out an angry squawk as he sailed through the air and into the opening, but Riku paid him no mind as he sprinted back to the portal.

The whirling vortex was now roaring at his back as Riku ran as fast as he could. His eyes widened as he saw the ground he ran on crack up and start disappearing into the black hole behind him. His stomach sank with a sickening feeling when he saw that the portal was starting to shrink and disappear, his friend's worried faces all looking at him. He was a few feet away from his goal when the ground before him began falling apart, leaving a black void in its wake. Seeing his only window of opportunity start closing, Riku took a deep breath and chanced it.

"RIKU!" Kairi cried and soon the boy's vision was overcome by black.

* * *

Sora woke up with cold sweat running down his face and the hairs on the back of his neck standing. Something was wrong. He didn't know what it was, but deep down he knew it was true. He groggily got up from the sand and noticed the chilly winds whipping salty water at his face. Looking around him, he saw darkened skies and stormy clouds that foreshadowed a great disaster.

'_No way. They said it was going to stay sunny all day!'_ Sora thought, but was then reminded of the horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. _'Riku! Something's wrong with Riku. I gotta find my friends.'_

Sora ran through the island, ignoring the biting cold winds as they struck him. He checked inside the tree house and the shack whose whole structure screeched as the strong winds pushed the flimsy wooden structure. The island with the bent Paopu tree was empty as well; loose planks of wood were flying off the wooden bridge that led him there. He went to the other side of the island too, but no one was there, but that couldn't be could it? He recalled seeing his friend's boats still in place at the docks.

'_There's only one other place they can be in.' _Sora decided as he headed back through the door to the other side.

Sora ignored the droplets of water as they started splashing against his face, instead he continued running under the bridge and towards the waterfall. Once there he followed the small path and pushed aside the bush whose branches hid the entryway to the Secret Place. Crouching on his knees, Sora followed the earthly path past some roots and finally into a large opening that led to a cave-like area.

"Riku, Kairi!" Sora shouted, but he was only greeted by his own echo. Sora squinted through the darkness of the cave for any clues. He reached into his pocket for one of the matches he knew he always carried with him in case he needed to start a bonfire. He only hoped that it was dry enough to use. Striking the match against one of the walls, the flame hissed into existence and the whole cave was bathed in an orange glow, casting eerie shadows on the chalk drawings.

The place was empty.

"No, how can it be? I checked everywhere!" Sora said and accidentally burnt his finger, dropping the match in the process.

Nursing his injured finger, Sora bent over to grab the match, but stopped when a particular drawing caught his eyes. It was the one he drew with Kairi when they were kids. He had drawn her, and she had drawn him, afterwards he had added a hand that gave Kairi a Paopu fruit. And now the drawing showed both of them exchanging fruits.

'_Wait, that can't be right. Kairi didn't…'_ Sora thought in confusion. The drawing wasn't like this. Now that he thought about it. He couldn't remember himself drawing the fruit, even though he was sure it was him.

The match's flames died out and in his confusion, Sora found himself searching his pockets for another match. He needed to be sure of what he saw. Reaching into his pockets he was surprised to find something else. Something he wasn't even aware he carried. It was smooth and felt cool to the touch, much like metal. He could also feel several _somethings_ hanging from it. Sora took it out of his pocket with curiosity, before reaching for another match and lighting it. From the orange glow from the flames he was able to see it clearly. It was a very pretty-looking silver bracelet with some charms dangling from it.

Sora stared at the bracelet in confusion. Why did he have this again?

'_It's for Kairi's birthday.'_ Sora thought and it seemed to sound right to him.

"Wait a minute…"

Sora thought before his eyes widened in realization. The teen clutched his head and gave a cry of pain as the events from the past few days began replaying in his head. When it was over Sora was left panting on the ground, the only light illuminating him was the glow of the match he didn't realize he had dropped.

"T-this isn't real." Sora said with realization as he looked at his white gloved hands, and winced at his higher pitched voice. "This is all an illusion."

Correct.

Sora whirled around to face the voice and was met with an eerie blue flame between a pair of glowing yellow eyes.

Lighting flashed and Sora only caught a brief glance at the creature before it left in a flurry of flapping wings. Sora followed it quickly as he crawled out of the exit and into the storm outside.

"A Heartless!" Sora cried out as he ran at the creature currently perched on the bent Paopu trunk.

It was small and almost oval in shape, with the overall appearance of an owl. It was dark blue and black in color with pointy ears and a white belly. It had a small beak and equally small silvery claws. Over its yellow glowing eyes it carried a silver and black masquerade style mask with flame designs, and right in the middle of its head it had a black and blue flame burning ominously.

Had it not been a heartless, Sora might've actually considered it cute.

The creature gave a loud screech before bursting into an explosion of black and blue flames. With a louder cry, the flames dispersed and in its place lay a huge, different creature. It carried the same color scheme, but it was now more like a phoenix than an owl, complete with a long neck and two longer tail feathers with black flame markings. Gone were the stubby feet, which were replaced by long powerful white furred legs with four long razor sharp talons on each foot. Its beak was now longer, and though it retained the mask, there were now two long antenna-like white feathers at each side of its face, and whose ends were lit with blue flames. Two huge black and blue powerful wings flapped, sending a whirlwind of sand in his direction.

Sora covered his eyes from the sand, and quickly rolled out of the way as the creature attempted to crush him under silvery sharp talons.

The battle had begun.

* * *

**Canis: "Well that's it for now."**

**Crystal: "Hope the beginning didn't scare anyone off but it had to be said."**

**Canis: *nods* "Oh, and I would also like to announce that this chapter breaks the 100,000 words barrier! I can't believe this story is really THAT long."**

**Crystal: "I can."**

**Canis: *grins sadistically* "Of course you do, you had to correct all of it. Oh and before I forget, I got myself a copy of Pokémon White, and though I won't likely be playing it routinely because of university, here´s my friend code just in case. It´s 3568-0955-2736, so don't be shy and leave your own code in the reviews, I´m always up for a match or trade." **

**Crystal: "Especially battles."**

**Canis: "Damn right. Now if I could just bring my team over from Pearl..."**

**Crystal: "Heaven help her rivals." *shakes head***

**Canis: "So anyways, please review and send me those numbers!"**

**Canis and Crystal out!**


	15. Wisdom

**HH Chapter 15: Wisdom**

**The moon is blue, the planets have aligned, and I believe I just saw a pig fly. You all know what that means...**

**Time for an update!**

**First of all, I must apologize to all of you who have been waiting, and specially those who thought this would be updated sooner. Not only have I been busy with this other plot-bunny induced project (I will post it once its done so as to avoid updating problems) and with real-life issues (I may have wasted my entire first semester of university and lost the entire year T-T), but we had a few technical problems. Let's just say that next time, I'll double check to make sure I sent the right file to be beta'd. **

**This chapter was originally meant to be 27 pages long, but after much consideration, I decided to split it into two separate chapters. The latter part is still being corrected, but I will post it before next week.**

**Anonymous Review Replies (ARR from now on):**

To Zhane: Apology accepted. I understand how frustrated and upset you must be, I've been there too. I also apologize for my crappy update schedule (or lack thereof). Unfortunately, there isn't really much of a solution for that. Still, thanks for reviewing.

To Marek: Here is the next chapter so no need to keep wondering :) As for the Stitch thing you mentioned in your review. There really is no connection between the light fragments and the three Keblade wielders. I just added the scene for fun, since I do love Stitch, and I wondered how he would act towards Roxas, considering that he met Ven in the past. This, of course, has not other plot significance. Anyways, thanks for reviewing.

**Thanks to everyone that has been following the story so far. I'm not gonna even bother with the disclaimer this time. You all know the drill.**

* * *

The creature gave a loud screech before bursting into an explosion of black and blue flames. With a louder cry, the flames dispersed and in its place lay a huge, different creature. It carried the same color scheme, but it was now more like a phoenix than an owl, complete with a long neck and two longer tail feathers with black flame markings. Gone were the stubby feet, which were replaced by long powerful white furred legs with four long razor sharp talons on each foot. Its beak was now longer, and though it retained the mask, there were now two long antenna-like white feathers at each side of its face, and whose ends were lit with dark blue flames. Two huge black and blue wings flapped, sending a whirlwind of sand in his direction.

Sora covered his eyes from the sand, but quickly rolled out of the way as the creature attempted to crush him under silvery sharp talons.

The battle had begun.

* * *

Sora attempted to open his eyes through the merciless gale, but he soon found that it was impossible to see. At most he could just barely make out a massive figure at the eye of the storm. Keeping his legs spread apart, Sora even found it hard to remain on his feet. The roaring wind was so strong, he actually felt like he could be swept up into the sky at any minute; his newly acquired stature didn't make matters any better. Just struggling to keep his feet planted in the ground made him realize how small and utterly defenseless he was at the moment. He was small again, with no friends to help him, or a Keyblade to fight with. Heck, he didn't even have a wooden sword this time. Just how was he supposed to beat this thing?

Sora grit his teeth and shook those dreary thoughts away.

'_There is always a way.'_

The brunette was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as the wind began to die down. His ears still rang as a result of the near deafening gales, but once he deemed it safe, Sora decided to open his eyes and was instantly surprised. The stormy clouds and grim skies were both gone, all that was left was an endless void of black. Beneath his feet, he could still see the thin white grains of sand from the beach. The biggest difference however, was that the sea was gone and so were the many plants and structures the island had, leaving behind an endless plain of shifting sands not unlike a desert.

And circling above it all like a vulture searching for its quarry was the bird-like Heartless.

Noticing that its prey was basically a sitting duck, it gave a mighty ear-shattering screech before diving down towards the shrunken brunette. Sora gave a yelp before ducking as razor sharp claws sailed right over his brown spikes. The bird gave an angry screech before circling once more and shooting towards the brunette, claws once more outstretched. This time the bird was smart enough to slash at the ground, thus forcing Sora to move out of the way or risk getting shredded. But unfortunately for the Keyblade Wielder, the thin sand, constantly shifting and sinking with added weight, made poor treading ground and an even worse battlefield. In the end, the brunette ended up tripping and getting a face full of sand due to a combination of desperation, poor terrain conditions, and of course, his lack of fighting experience in his current 'down-sized' form.

'_Well at least the sand cushioned the blow._' Sora thought as he groaned and spat the sand from his mouth.

The Heartless, seeing as his foe was currently sprawled on a dune and open to attack, swooped down and began a flurry of sharp pecks and slashes in Sora's direction, all while flapping madly and blowing sand all over the place. The brunette quickly used his small size as an advantage and dodged the swipes as best as he could, even though his movements were greatly restricted by the large bird.

'_Yeah but what else can I do? I don't have the keyblade and I don't think I can just run away. It's just a matter of time until the Heartless gets me.'_ Sora reasoned. Sure he wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the box, but even _he_ knew when he wouldn't last long. "I mean really? How could this possibly get any worse?"

Just as he realized his huge mistake, the blue Heartless gave a shrill screech and Sora then saw how the blue flames at the end of its antenna-like protrusions changed from dark blue to a fiery red. He had no idea what it was supposed to mean, but the little voice inside his head was soon telling him to run as fast as he could, and since it was rarely wrong, Sora quickly obeyed. He ran up a nearby dune and once at the other side, he slid down the soft sand, his eyes quickly looking up as they spotted a large ball of fire sailing through the air above him.

'_Great! Just fantastic! It can use magic!'_ Sora ranted to himself inside his head as he pulled at his hair in frustration. _'Now how am I supposed to beat THAT?'_

Sora stopped for a second, and then the answer hit him like a ton of bricks. In that moment the Keyblade Master felt really quite stupid. All he had to do was fight fire with fire. After all, if the Heartless could use magic, what was stopping him from doing the same? Theoretically he didn't _need_ the Keyblade to do magic.

'_Please let this work.'_ Sora prayed silently as he rooted his feet firmly in the sand and focused his power into his extended hands. This was, after all, his last hope.

At first nothing happened, making the shrunken boy start to panic as the large blazing bird got closer and closer to his current position. Sweat fell from his brow as he saw the creature extend its frighteningly sharp talons towards him, leaving the brunette standing like a deer in the headlights, his feet begging him to move out of the way while his mind desperately tried pouring as much power as he possibly could into one risky blow. It was in the last possible moment, when he could have sworn he was able to see his own reflection on the shiny silver talons, that the energies spiked and his magic flowed out in the form of an attack.

"Blizzard!" Sora shouted, and felt a cool chill leave his outstretched palms and shoot directly at the creature, hitting it directly in the chest.

The Heartless gave a piercing shriek and flapped its massive wings wildly, kicking up sand into the air as it was thrown backwards by the attack. Sora on the other hand stood gaping dumbly at what had been seconds away from being his untimely end. Looking down at his hand which still tingled with magic, a smile tugged at the edge of his lips.

It was weaker than normal, but at least he wasn´t defenseless now. With his magic still kicking, he could still put up a fight.

Unfortunately for the brunette, his celebration was cut short when the dark phoenix rose from the sands with vengeance glowing down in the pits of its eerie yellow eyes. If Sora had to take a guess, he would say that the Heartless didn´t appreciate being blasted out of the sky like that, but of course, it didn´t exactly take a genius to figure that out.

With a shrill cry of revenge, the bird spread its wings wide open as it was engulfed in a blaze of dark blue flames that spread out towards the rest of the battlefield. Sora threw both his arms up to cover his face from the raging storm of fire and sand, fully expecting the flames to lick at his arms and burn his skin. That´s why it came as a huge shock that instead of a raging inferno, his arms were greeting by a biting cold wind that made chills go down his spine and every hair on his body stand on end. Cautiously lowering his arms, Sora quickly noticed the ragged puffs of breath that rose to the air from his mouth, and the fact that the temperature had taken a huge drop. The streams of sand that had been previously swept across the air were now flash frozen into glittering statues of ice, and even the sand beneath his feet seemed to have been covered by a slight layer of frost. He would have continued to marvel at the eerie beauty of the frozen statues had he not remembered that this battle had yet to be won.

Sora let out a small yelp as he dodged a blast of ice, not unlike a blizzaga spell. Turning to face his attacker, he saw that the heartless was already preparing another blast, so he turned tail and ran to a more 'strategic' location, namely one where he wouldn't be turned into a living breathing snowman. Running up to a dune and then sliding down its frozen side, Sora concentrated his magic into another spell. When he finally felt the magic reach its peak, he unleashed another blizzaga spell at the Heartless as it soared over him. The attack hit, but rather than being thrown back or even flinching, the creature just continued to fly straight ahead, before making a large turn and heading straight towards him.

Sora dodged to the side as the monstrous bird dived downwards with its claws outstretched, but what he wasn´t expecting was the attack that came afterwards. As soon as the bird's talons met the frozen surface of the ground, a series of geysers erupted from the ground, one of them catching him off guard and flinging him several feet into the air.

"Oww…" Sora muttered as his landing made him slide painfully over the frozen surface of the ground before skidding to a halt, his clothes and hair dripping with cold water.

Getting up slowly, he willed his body to stop shaking from the cold while his mind was still doing flips. Unfortunately his own body didn't seem to be responding to him like he wanted it to and as soon as he managed to stand, his legs gave out on him. A harsh pain erupted from his heel and it was then that he realized that it was probably broken from the fall, if not then it was most likely sprained.

Gritting his teeth, Sora dragged himself under several collapsed pillars of ice while trying to ignore the pain that erupted from his injuries. Above him he could hear the cries of the Heartless as it approached, but thankfully thick ice that made up the ceiling of the cavern-like formation did a great job at hiding him from the predator circling above.

"Heal." Sora whispered as a green glow enveloped his hands and a warm feeling surrounded him, effectively replacing the pain that had plagued him only seconds ago. Testing out his foot, he gave a sad smile as he noted that it had fully healed, though it was at the heavy price of the rest of his magical energy. Without the ability to use magic, he was little more than a sitting duck, but it would not have been much different if he had allowed that injury to persist. At least he could move and hide now, and that would at least buy him some time until his energies returned to him.

'_I really just hope they do. I'm not wearing the fairy's outfit at the moment so I can't be too sure of that.'_ Sora thought with a sigh. _'Why didn't the spell work? I clearly hit the Heartless and yet it did nothing! Maybe my magic is getting weaker…no, I am sure both spells were of the same strength. But then something must have changed from before! Come on, think Sora! Well, the Heartless didn't have those weird ice abilities before I hit it, now that I think about it, it used fire before AND the flames on it were a different color… That's it! The spell didn't work because I used ice against ice, not like before when I used ice against fire. So maybe if I use another spell…well in any case I guess I have no choice but to wait.'_

Hugging his knees closer to his body, Sora settled himself more comfortably on the ice. He hoped that his current posture would not only ward off the biting cold as best as it could, but also make himself look smaller and less visible to the bird-like Heartless that was likely searching for him at the moment.

'_Come on, hurry!'_ Sora thought, willing himself to regain his energies quickly though he knew he had no real say in the matter. He really just hated feeling like a cornered animal. Rubbing his arms against the cold, the Keyblade Master cursed his current attire, his angry huff becoming quite visible because of the cold.

**There you are.**

Sora quickly jumped to his feet right as the air was filled with a deafening screech. Above him he saw cracks appear on the ice, and realizing what was about to happen, the brunette quickly got out of the way as the whole structure collapsed.

'_No way!'_ Sora thought as he looked up and saw the Heartless flapping its large wings over his now destroyed shelter. _'Come on, not now, I'm still not ready!'_

The bird gave a cry before unleashing a blast out ice from its open mouth. Sora moved to the right to dodge, and then broke into a sprint to put some distance between himself and his opponent. Unfortunately the Heartless realized that its prey was getting away and flapped its massive wings once more, chasing after the brunette.

Sora gave a small yelp as the bird approached, but seeing the large ice formations in from of him, he began to zigzag through them to get the bird off his trail like a complicated game of cat and mouse. Yet as much as he tried, the Heartless just wouldn't leave him be. Not only did he have to avoid its sharp beak and claws, but also its long ranged blasts of water and ice.

_'Alright, hang in there, just a bit more.'_ Sora tried to reassure himself as he dodged another blast of water. _'…And there!'_

Sora felt a wave of relief wash over him as he felt his magic hum in synchrony with him, ready to be used once more. Gathering his magic into an attack he waited for his opponent to be in sight before unleashing a long ranged firaga spell at his opponent. The spell struck the Heartless, and Sora was almost about to celebrate in response, but instead he was taken back since the spell seemingly fizzled out once in contact with his opponent, like a small flame under a torrent of water.

_'What?'_ Sora gasped in shock. The monster took advantage of the moment and rushed towards the stricken Keyblade Master.

With a mighty flap of its wings, the brunette was knocked down from the resulting gale of wing, and before he even knew it, he found himself pinned under the Heartless's sharp silvery talons. Sora cried out in pain as the bird pressed down on his chest, the force threatening to crush him.

"No, I can't give up!" Sora hissed as his azure eyes met the Heartless's yellow glowing ones. _'Come on think! Think! What works against ice and water?'_

Sora's eyes widened in realization before he quickly raised his hand towards the monster and gathered his magic to form an attack. The magic glowed and buzzed in anticipation before being released as a powerful thundaga spell. The bright yellow volts of electricity struck the bird and raced across its body in wide arcs as the creature drew back in pain, resulting in Sora's release in the process.

Sora scrambled to his feet quickly as the Heartless thrashed in the air, its body twitching with random spasms. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the brunette ran further away from his opponent and took cover behind a frozen dune just as the creature let out an angry shriek that shook the battlefield.

The creature beat its massive wings lifting itself high into the air as the black storm clouds that covered the frozen landscape stirred threateningly. Soon, the creature's echoing screeches mingled with roars from the brewing storm. The only warning the brunette received was the sudden flare of yellow that replaced the dark blue flames, before the whole sky flashed yellow and a dozen or so bolts of pure electricity struck the field. Thankfully, Sora was fast enough to drop flat on the ground and avoid being blasted into smithereens like several unlucky ice formations.

Giving a quick glance at his opponent, Sora was relieved to see that it was clearly tiring out. A slight irregularity in its flight suggested that it was more hurt than it appeared. Not that he was doing any better either.

'_Alright, so maybe if I hit it hard with the next attack I can bring it down for good. I'll have put a bit more energy to it, but it'll be worth it. Since its using thunder based attacks now, then I guess using thundaga is out of the question. And since his last form was weak to thunder then I guess using blizzaga will do next to nothing. In that case there is really only one other choice, a full-blast firaga spell will have to do. Only problem is that the long-ranged version doesn't really do as much damage as a short range version, not to mention the Heartless is way up high and won't likely come down because of its injuries.'_ Sora thought with a sigh. _'I'll just have to play it smart. Boy do I wish Donald was here. He'd know exactly what to do. He was always lecturing me about learning to use my spells. Always going on about how I used to much brute strength and wasted all that potential. At least I think that's what he was saying.'_

The thought of his friend made a smile creep onto his face and a bit of warmth made its way into his heart. No, he would definitely not give up. His friends were waiting for him somewhere out there. All he had to do was defeat this Heartless with his magic and move on. _'Just use my magic…wait… that's it!'_

Sora got up from the ground and stood on top of a tall dune. Ignoring the flashes of lighting all around him, he looked into the sky and after spotting his enemy in the darkened heavens, he quickly began to wave his arms around.

"HEY, LOOKING FOR ME?" Sora shouted at the top of his lungs.

Almost instantly the Heartless turned towards him and shrieked. The sky flashed dangerously again and in response Sora yelped and quickly charged his spell. The bolts quickly raced down from the sky in his direction, but rather than striking him where he stood, they were greeting by a transparent barrier that seemed to absorb all the power like a lightning rod before sending it back to the large bird. As he predicted, the electricity did nothing but irk the creature. Realizing that its attacks could be easily blocked, the creature decided to swoop down and take a more direct approach.

Sora mentally grinned_. 'Time for phase two.'_

The brunette stood his ground despite the incoming attack. Instead, he quickly gathered more magic and tensed his muscles in preparation. The bird swooped down from the sky, gaining momentum until its form resembled more of a blazing yellow fire ball than a bird. When it finally near, Sora waited until the last possible second to dodge, taking advantage of the bird's exposed backside and only then unleashing the spell he had charged. The magic struck the bird while taking the form of a dark swirl that seemed to rip the very fabric of space before him. Instantly the bird flapped its wings frantically as its body was drawn backwards into the vortex of his magnera spell.

Not missing his chance Sora rapidly put as much power as he could into his attack, small flames actually erupting from his arms and legs before his spell could even take its proper form. With a sweeping dash that actually made him blur for a second, the Keyblade Master was next to his opponent with his magic blazing all around him.

"FIRE!" Sora cried out and at his command, the magic all around him quickly erupted into a blazing inferno that spiraled outwards into the sky like a tornado made completely out of fire. Inside the vortex however, the attack's intensity was more like that of a small sun. It was practically impossible to distinguish the Heartless's screeches from within the roaring flames. Even more it was impossible to distinguish the Heartless's own thunder yellow flames from the scarlet and golden flames that had engulfed them.

Eventually the fire dispersed and the attack finally ended. Sora fell to the ground on his knees and, though he felt completely exhausted, a smile graced his lips as the last of the flames still clinging to his small frame were slowly extinguished. As the fire's caster, the flames had not hurt him. In fact, the fire's heat was nothing less than comforting to his soul. Like the feeling of an embrace or the comfort of knowing that everything would be okay.

**HOW DARE YOU!**

Sora was snapped out of his trance-like state when he heard the voice reverberate across the entire battlefield. Whipping his head around, he only caught sight of a black and blue blur before an invisible gale pushed him backwards into the ground. Getting up quickly and blinking away the sand in his eyes, he caught sight of several dark feathers raining down from all around him, before turning to see their owner perched on what were most likely the uprooted and half-frozen remains of a palm tree. Several feathers on the bird's body were scorched, while others had been broken and twisted, even the beautiful patches of white plumage had been blackened by the fire to give the bird a defeated appearance. The silver masquerade mask with the flame like markings was now cracked and tarnished from the battle. The previous yellow flames had returned to the same color it had from the beginning, while the size of the flames was greatly reduced.

**DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM!**

The voice echoed again though this time it was accompanied by an angry shriek from the Heartless.

"You!" Sora said as he suddenly recognized the voice as the one he had heard during his time in the island. "You've been following me these past few days! Then…this is all your fault!"

The Keyblade Master growled and closed his hand into a fist as he approached the creature. The creature just seemed to look at him maliciously.

**You cannot defeat me.**

"Oh yeah, says who?" Sora said and began to approach the creature. Magic was already swirling in his hand in preparation for an attack.

**Such actions are very unwise. You wouldn't want to accidentally strike your friends correct?**

The creature lifted both wings, making Sora stop dead in his tracks and stare at the creature with wide eyes. Behind each wing and wrapped tightly around each of the creature's long tail feathers were his struggling friends.

"RIKU, KAIRI!"

* * *

Riku jolted upwards, his heart racing as his mind frantically tried to assess his current situation. It was dark, far too dark and unfamiliar to be his room. For a moment he panicked, thinking he had somehow landed himself inside the Dark Realm once more. Thankfully it was at that time that his mind seemed to catch up and realize what happened.

'_We made it across didn't we? That means that I must be somewhere in The World That Never Was. But, where are the others?'_ Riku thought as he got up and stretched his uncomfortably stiff muscles. Waking up to strange places was surely becoming a routine. _'Just what happened?'_

Catching sight of a small sliver of light to his left, Riku walked towards it, his arms held in front of him to avoid crashing into some unidentifiable object. When his fingers finally came in contact with a solid and rather dusty surface that felt much different than the surfaces around it, he quickly came to realize that he was standing in front of a window; a very dirty window that hardly let any light pass through.

With a small grimace Riku wiped at the glass, revealing a dark city lit with neon signs outside. In the distance ahead he could see the skyscraper where he fought Roxas.

'So we did make it.' Riku thought with some relief. 'And judging by what I saw outside, I'm likely in the third or fourth floor of one of the buildings. The others must have dragged me here to rest since the streets outside are practically overflowing with Heartless. I'll have to remember to avoid summoning Way to the Dawn.'

Walking over to the now visible door, Riku turned the knob and stepped through a rather dark hallway. Thankfully the neon lights outside were enough to illuminate his way towards another door in the opposite end. The voices coming from the other side, as well as the warm light slipping through the gap underneath the door was enough to tell him where the others were.

"Riku!" The teen heard and soon felt something collide against his chest. Looking down, he quickly saw Kairi hugging his middle.

"Hey." Riku replied and then winced a bit as he felt Kairi unleash her frustration on his chest.

"That's all you have to say for yourself? Do you have any idea how worried you had us?" Kairi reprimanded. From the corner of his eye he saw the Disney Trio in the room too, though obviously they weren't going to intervene on his behalf any time soon. All he really got was an apologetic look from Mickey.

Riku mentally winced at her tone, but replied. "I'm sorry?"

"It's not funny!" Kairi said and then continued with a softer tone, Riku just barely caught the slight tremor in her voice. "You could've died. When the portal closed you almost didn't make it and I was so afraid… I didn't want to lose another friend…I don't think I could withstand it."

The silver haired teen's eyes widened and when he heard the girl begin to cry softly, he did the only thing that he could think of and quickly embraced her in a comforting hug. Kairi returned the gesture, hiding her face within the fabrics of his vest. Riku only stood quietly rubbing soothing circles into her back as the fabric of his vest slowly became warm and damp with tears.

"I'm sorry Kairi, I really am." Riku said quietly enough for just her to hear. "It'll be okay, I promise."

* * *

Roxas found himself on top of a roof once more. Down below he could see many people go about their daily business, and further up ahead he could see the roof of Merlin's house. He had no idea what strange force compelled him to keep returning here, but there was something strangely soothing about watching the clouds thrift lazily through an azure sky. It made him envious really. He too found himself sometimes wishing that he could just fly through the skies without a care in the world.

Yawning lightly from just having awoken from a small nap, the blonde leaned back and caught sight of a rather odd looking cloud. Tilting his head to the right, a small smile stretched across his lips. _**'Hmm, it looks like cat.'**_

That was another thing he liked about the clouds; they came in all shapes and sizes. Trying to find as many figures as he could in them was actually really fun. And when the sun was about to set, they even looked like they were on fire. Axel had once told him how he liked those the best.

'_**Still, I don't think I would like to stay like this forever.'**_ Roxas thought. _**'It just seems awfully lonely without the others.'**_

With a sigh, Roxas's thoughts turned towards his friends. He really did wonder where they were at the moment. Did they manage to capture the fragments of light? How many did they have? How long until they returned?

'_**I hope it won't take any longer.'**_ Roxas thought with a sigh.

He couldn't deny the feelings of unrest that continued to plague him. Things were just like they were back when Axel was designated to Castle Oblivion. He had gone missing some time afterwards, and yet as much as he wanted, he had been useless to help look for him. As much as he hated to admit it, things were not too different. Though he had been gladly helping the HBRC during his stay here, none of his actions had so far helped Sora. Everyone had insisted that it wasn't his fault. Being bound to the area surrounding the brunette, there was little he could do. And yet, that didn't really make him feel any better.

"ROXAS!" The blonde turned quickly to see Yuffie running towards him at great speeds.

**"Yuffie?"** Roxas asked in confusion as he saw the urgent look on the ninja's face.

"There you are! Leon's been looking everywhere for you!" The girl said, quickly taking hold of his rather transparent arm. "You have to come quick, Sora's condition worsened!"

**"WHAT?"** Roxas cried out and quickly followed the girl.

"It's been almost half an hour according to Aerith. Sora's in shock again, we don't know why but it happened." Yuffie said.

Roxas cursed under his breath, feeling angry at himself for dozing off on the roof. Watching over the brunette was just about the only thing he _could_ do and he had failed at it too. He had let his guard down, thinking that those quiet days would last forever. The others would arrive to a peacefully sleeping Sora and once reunited with his light, everything would be fine. It had all been wishful thinking on his behalf. He had clearly been mistaken. Sora's time was running out and there was nothing he could do to help. The severity of the situation had just slapped him hard across the face.

* * *

"LET THEM GO!" Sora shouted as the Heartless's evil chuckle seemed to echo across the tattered expanse of land.

**Surely even you realize that it is not going to happen.**

"I SAID LET THEM GO!" Sora shot back and began charging a spell in his hand, the magic literally racing across his fingers.

**I wouldn't do that if I were you.**

Sora grit his teeth and was about to shoot the spell anyways, when two pained screams pierced through the air. The Heartless's tail feathers were constricting his friends like pythons, with their hold getting stronger with each passing second.

"ALRIGHT STOP IT!" Sora shouted and quickly dismissed his spell. He couldn't bear to hear his friends suffering. Riku just wasn't supposed to be caught screaming out in pain. He was just too strong for that. And Kairi…he had promised himself he would always protect her. She would always watch over him, and when she needed it, he would always be there to save her. It broke his heart to hear her screams. "Please just let them go!"

**Let them go?**

More chuckles seemed to erupt from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. A malicious look settled in the yellow glowing eyes of his opponent. The odd positioning of the masquerade mask seemed to give the bird an utterly amused expression that would otherwise be impossible on a bird's face.

**Since I am feeling generous I will allow it… Now tell me, which of the two will you choose?**

"Wait, you can't be serious! I can't choose! Can't it be both?" Sora cried out in desperation. His only response was the pained cries of his friends.

**You will choose one, or neither. **

"S-Sora." Riku cried out, his aqua colored eyes staring directly at his.

"Riku…" Sora whispered.

"P-please." This time Kairi cried out, a lone hand seemingly reaching out to him.

"Kairi…" Sora said, his voice trembling while his heart was completely torn in half. "I-I can't do it! I CAN'T!"

Tears gathered in his eyes, his hands shaking while he could do nothing to avoid that knot that formed in his throat. How was he supposed to choose? Riku was his best friend and rival. Kairi too was so close to him, he had even given up his heart for her. But they were both his everything; like two sides of the same coin. Even losing one of them was unbearable. To choose only one was simply unfathomable.

"I can't do this!" Sora said, more to himself than anyone else. He could no longer hold back the tears that had flooded his vision.

**Is that your final answer?**

Sora felt his legs give up right under him in defeat, making him fall to his knees with his head bent low as salty tears splashed into the sand below. He couldn't even bear to look at his friends in the face. The Heartless only seemed laugh at his misery, pouring salt and rubbing it on his emotional wounds.

**You are weak.**

Sora didn't deny it. He very much felt like the small teen he currently looked like. He was no better than the wooden-sword wielding boy who had lost so many times to the other kids on the island. He wasn't strong. He wasn't that fast. He wasn't even smart. Heck, he couldn't even save his friends.

Sora angrily wiped at the tears with his tattered fingerless glove while in front of him the monster continued its heartless chuckling. A sudden wave of anger and helplessness washed over him. He had no doubt that his enemy found it amusing. Gritting his teeth and balling his hands into fists Sora struck the sand, which only resulted in a wave of pain running up his arm and a wave of laughter to echo across the area once more. Yet there was one more sound; one that chimed faintly like a whisper. Tracking down the source of the strange sound, Sora's eyes caught sight of a sliver of silver that had fallen into the sand below. Reaching out to towards the shining silver, Sora wiped away the stray sand to reveal a delicate charm bracelet.

Sora stared at the bracelet intently, his eyes becoming hazy as he remembered the purpose of such a gift. Yet all his dreams and planning would never become a reality.

'_Reality.'_ Sora thought about the word, as though something strange beckoned him towards it like a soft and gentle whisper. The gears in his mind turned at full power as the whispers soon turned into frantic shouts, like a hidden truth that was screaming to be found. It was then that something just 'clicked', a sudden epiphany that overflowed his senses, making it seem as if time stood at a standstill.

**So what is you final answer?**

Sora looked up from the sandy ground and into the twin yellow orbs that made his tormentor's eyes. Suddenly his answer became as clear as day.

"My answer is neither." Sora said and slowly rose from the ground. "This…this is all an illusion isn't it? None of this is real!"

The sky seemed to turn dark and Sora could have sworn he saw a look of anger cross the bird's features, before the Heartless spoke again.

**If this is an illusion, then tell me Keyblade warrior, how is it that you can see touch and even smell the world around you?**

Sora seemed taken back for a moment, hesitation flashing across his eyes, before he shook his head and stood firm once more. "It's only because you made me believe it was real. You used my memories to create this illusion. That's why everything is exactly as I remember, including the sounds and smells!"

**So is that what you truly wish to believe?**

"You can stop it with the mind tricks." Sora said, narrowing his eyes and clenching his jaw angrily.

**And what makes you believe this is a trick?**

Sora's lips turned upwards into a smirk that betrayed just how tired he was. "I admit you almost had me there. Thankfully your illusion wasn't perfect and that's what helped me figure it out. You know what I'm talking about right? That's why you attacked me. You've been following me around all this time just to make sure of that."

The Heartless's eyes narrowed more before an angry hiss escaped from its throat.

**HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY SKILLS!**

Sora only smirked. "The drawings in the secret spot were a nice touch, but you should've realized that they didn't look like that until _after_ I returned from my adventure. But your biggest mistake however, was forgetting that the charm bracelet was still inside my pocket. Funny how the smallest things can make the biggest differences."

**YOU LITTLE RUNT!**

Pained cries once again rang through the air, though this time Sora's face remained stony. As much as he hated hearing those cries, he knew that it was all another ploy set up by the Heartless.

"Just give it up. Those two aren't the real Riku and Kairi, and you are wrong if you think you can get to me with such a dirty trick." Sora said with seriousness as he stood tall and stared at the creature right in the eyes.

**BEGONE!**

The Heartless let out a piercing shriek as it spread open its wings and dove at the Keyblade Master, glistening claws at the ready. Sora spread his legs to brace himself, his right hand cocked back as magic swirled around him to form an attack. He didn't even flinch as the Heartless seemed to burst into a mass of writhing blue flames. Instead, he let his fire spell take form and, at the last second, launched himself at his foe, dodging silvery claws and releasing the attack in the form of a blazing red and golden punch that struck the monster right in the face, effectively cracking its masquerade-like mask.

The Heartless's flames seemed to fizzle out as the creatures huge body shrank back to its original owl-like form. Sora landed softly on his feet just in time to turn and see the defeated owl-like Heartless disappear in a display of black flames and smoke. Letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, Sora let a tired but content smile grace his lips.

"Finally." Sora muttered, but then nearly fell over when the ground beneath him began to shake violently. "What the- what's going on!"

"The illusion is collapsing." Sora turned around quickly and realized that it was the fake Riku speaking. "Now that the Heartless has been defeated, everything of its creation will disappear."

"Including ourselves." The fake Kairi said with a sad smile.

Now that Sora looked at it, he could see long cracks appear on the sandy ground while the trees and forgotten pillars of ice from the battle were slowly disappearing into the sky. His attention however was drawn to the two teens in front of him. "Wait but, you guys…"

"We _are_ illusions." Fake Riku said. "But we were also based on the memories of the originals, so we are just like you remember them."

A frown quickly overtook Sora's features as he thought how these two were just pawns destined to disappear. It quickly reminded him of Roxas, Naminé, and even the Riku Replica from his time in Castle Oblivion. They had all been used as puppets for wrong intentions despite their innocence. The fact that they would disappear because of him made him feel horrible.

"Don't be sad." 'Kairi' said, her body now see-through. "We knew this had to happen sooner or later, we're just happy you are alright. Besides, we won't really be gone. In a way, we ARE your memories, we will always live on inside your heart."

"She's right. You should worry more about yourself." 'Riku' said as he too began to disappear, but not before putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Stand strong. After all, you're still only half way there."

"Wait!" Sora said as the two teens were almost completely gone.

"Your friends are waiting for you. You'd better not disappoint them!" Riku called out.

"Just remember that you are never truly alone." Kairi said as she went to stand with Riku. "We are all here for you."

"Good luck."

Sora watched sadly as the two teens disappeared right before his eyes. He couldn't help the shedding of tears that followed afterwards, even amidst the chaos that followed as the world seemed to collapse on itself. The last thing he knew before darkness overtook him was the feeling of weightlessness as the ground beneath him gave away.

* * *

"Listen up everyone, this is what we are going to do." King Mickey said as everyone was gathered in the room and listening intently. "We have currently three major objectives. First and foremost we have to find the fragments of light in this world. Secondly, we have to find a way to get out of this world or contact Cid so he can come and get us, getting those fragments means nothing if we are still stranded here. And last but not least, we must move about in this world with extreme care. This world is far too close to the darkness, which means it has a high number of Heartless too. If anyone of us summons the keyblade here, those Heartless will come after us in endless swarms. Obviously we don't want that so we will have to avoid using Keyblades at all costs."

"So all of us except for Goofy will be depending on magic then." Riku concluded.

"That's right." Mickey said and then continued. "I propose we split up into groups. One group will go search for the fragments while the other works out a way to go back."

"That sounds like a good plan, but how should we split up?" Kairi asked.

"Well, I was thinking that since Naminé is with you and knows Sora's memories well, not to mention that you have the container, you should lead the search. It would be best for Donald and Goofy to accompany you. There's a chance the other fragments will attract the Heartless, so you should get as much protection as possible. Our efforts won't mean a thing if we lose the other fragments." Mickey said.

"But what about your Majesty?" Donald asked in protest. He was, after all, the King's guard alongside Goofy.

"And what about me?" Riku asked though he already had a good idea of what Mickey would say.

"You two don't worry about me, I can handle myself just fine." Mickey told his two life-long friends and guards before turning to the silver-haired teen. "Riku you will be coming with me. Your style puts quite a bit of force when using the Keyblade, and while guarding and attacking at long range with controlled darkness. Unfortunately that puts you in quite the disadvantage right now. You can't use the Keyblade, and as I already told you, it's best that you avoid tapping into your darkness for a while. I still need your help though. From what I've heard, Sora crash landed in this world not too long ago. We may be able to salvage the ship, or at least some parts of it. If we can find a radio we can also contact Cid. Of course, I won't be able to do this alone."

Riku sighed but nodded anyways. He knew that Mickey was right, but that didn't mean he had to like it. It wasn't that he didn't trust Donald and Goofy. He knew the two oddballs would go to the ends of the earth for their friends. It was just that he felt much better knowing that he was going along with Kairi, even though he knew he was next to useless in his current state. As much as he wanted to disagree, he knew Mickey had everyone's best interests at heart. Mickey's plan really was their best bet.

"Alright." Riku said, earning himself a smile from the others. "So how will we communicate with each other? Should we set up a rendezvous point or some kind of signal?"

"I think we should choose both. We'll meet up in this exact same building in say…an hour. If anything goes wrong, just send up a fire spell up into the sky from a place we can all see it. We'll try to come to your position as soon as we can. Remember to use it as a last resort though. Signaling us also means that you are drawing attention to yourself. And again, remember to avoid using your Keyblades." Mickey said with all seriousness as everyone nodded. Nobody needed to be reminded what was at stake. "Alright then, good luck to everyone, and now let's move out!"

Riku and Kairi both synchronized their wristwatches before walking down several flights of stairs and then separating into their respective teams once outside. The streets were dark and haunting under the eerie heart-shaped moon, but the groups paid them no mind as they each turned their separate way past neon-lit corridors.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	16. Riddle

**Chapter 16: Riddle**

**Here it is, as promised.**

**Disclaimer: You can all figure it out, can't you?**

* * *

When Roxas finally made it to Merlin's House, it was chaos. Leon was fiddling with the computer as several numbers and bizarre statistics flared red in warning. Aerith on the other hand was running to and fro with a small wet rag that she would put on Sora's forehead. Said brunette was currently twisting and turning on the bed sheets as if in some kind of fever induced nightmare. Without the slightest hesitation, Roxas quickly ran to Sora's side.

"**What happened?"** The blonde asked Aerith as she set her hand over Sora's forehead to check his temperature.

With a small frown the brunette answered. "We don't really know. At first everything was just as always and then all of a sudden Sora's fever spiked and he started thrashing. At one point it got so bad that Leon had to hold him down."

"I wouldn't have realized something was wrong if it weren't for Tron's alarm. Thankfully it's not as bad now." Leon said as he finished typing on the computer.

"Yeah, thankfully his temperature has gone down, but I'm still worried that he's been in this state for too long. Even if the fever is part of the immune response, it is still damaging him. Not to mention that all that thrashing is going to wear him out even worse." Aerith said as she gave a tired sigh and sat down on a chair.

"I'm more worried about the frequencies of these attacks." Leon said and Yuffie just tilted her head in confusion.

"I don't get it. Isn't it a good thing that they are not happening?" Yuffie asked.

"If these fits are really the way his body is defending itself against the darkness, then it could mean that the darkness is getting an upper hand, and so it has suppressed the body's defense against it. At this point any irregularity should be considered a bad thing." Leon said with upmost seriousness. "I've already contacted Cid and told him to hurry things up. The only problem is that it looks like he lost contact with the others."

"**What do you mean he lost contact?"** Roxas asked.

Leon rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration before answering. "The last Cid saw of them was when he dropped them off in Twilight Town."

"Did he say anything else? Like how many fragments they have?" Yuffie asked.

"According to him they were coming after their third fragment. We can therefore assume they have at least two. Cid also told me that he would stay near the town in case they returned. He also told me several other things that I'm not in the liberty of discussing and which I refuse to repeat, but other than that, that's all he really said."

Roxas sighed before plopping down on a nearby chair. Though it worried him that they had lost track of the others, he had to have faith that they were alright, wherever they may be. He knew deep down that together they could overcome anything that came in their way. They would just have to be patient and wait. Leon seemed to come to the same conclusion.

"That's odd." Aerith said and everyone turned towards the green-eyed woman. "Sora stopped thrashing."

Roxas turned to look at the bed, and indeed, Sora was now in that odd comatose state again. The only sign that he had ever moved was the disorganized tangle of bed sheets all around him.

"Yuffie, go find Cloud and Tifa and tell them to take over guard duty today. I'll have to go to Ansem's computer and analyze some of Sora's data now that Cid is away. We will have to find a way to contact Merlin too." Leon said before retrieving a CD from the computer and heading out the door.

"Alright!" Yuffie said, giving a mock salute before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"Yuffie!" Aerith admonished as she and the blonde beside her were left coughing because of the smoke. "I've told her dozens of times not to do that indoors."

Aerith walked over and opened up a window. When she turned around and caught sight of the blonde teen sitting at the foot of Sora's bed, she couldn't help but let her features soften. The large maternal side of her urged her to comfort the teen the second she saw the melancholic look on Roxas's face.

"I'm sure they are alright." Aerith said.

"**I know, but…"** Roxas began hesitantly and Aerith just encouraged him to continue. **"I just wish I could to something to help! I mean, not that I don't enjoy helping out here, but everyone else is out there actually doing something for Sora-"**

Roxas quickly froze when he felt a set of delicate arms embrace him. Even as they began to rub soothing circles on his back, he was left speechless.

"It's all right." Aerith whispered. "Sometimes, even though things are out of our hands and there is nothing we can really do to help, just thinking about our friends or being with them can be the greatest help you can give. If they are lonesome, they can at least take comfort in knowing that they aren't alone. If they lose hope, you can be their pillar of strength. I'm sure the day will come when you will be able to lend Sora a hand, but for now I'm sure he would really appreciate knowing that you are watching over him or even just thinking about him."

"**T-Thanks."** Roxas said as he let a smile tug at his lips.

Aerith just returned his smile with her own warm one. "Would you like something to eat or some hot chocolate? I know that'll make you feel a lot better."

Roxas just gave a weak nod before the brunette went to get the chocolate. Looking down at an unconscious Sora, Roxas inched closer and proceeded to disentangle him from the mess of blankets. Only when he had rearranged the fabric and shifted the Keyblade Wielder, did he notice the black tattoo-like markings that were once again reappearing on the brunette's face and body. Taking hold of the brunette's arm to see them better, Roxas was surprised when he suddenly began to feel rather light headed and drained. On reflex, Roxas quickly let go of Sora, only for the odd sensation to stop. Looking curiously at his hand, Roxas furrowed his brows in confusion and then looked at the still-unconscious brunette.

'_**Weird.'**_ Roxas thought, before giving a small shrug, and proceeding to cover the brunette with a blanket.

He didn't want Sora to catch hold of one of those cold morning chills, after all. Once the blanket resting snuggly up to his chest, Roxas brushed Sora's long brown bangs out of his face, but then paused when he got a good look at the brunette's face.

The tattoo-like markings had disappeared.

* * *

_Why did the Keyblade choose me? I have to know._

_You can't turn on the Organization!_

_You get on their bad side, and they'll destroy you!_

_No one would miss me._

_That's not true... I would._

Kairi pocketed the charm once the fragment was fully absorbed into it. Thankfully she was getting used to the emotional outpour from the fragments, so their reactions weren´t nearly as bad as before. It had taken them some time, but finally, after wandering through the many dark streets in the city, they had encountered one of the sought after fragments just floating there to the side of a street. As it turned out, this was one of Roxas´s memories, which wasn´t all that surprising considering that he had lived here for some time.

"Alright, time to move." Kairi told her two companions. Deep down she wondered if this was what adventuring was like for Sora.

"Where do you reckon the next fragment is?" Goofy said.

"Well, do you guys remember anything of importance happening with Sora when you arrived here? I was still held in the castle at that point so I can't really say much myself." Kairi said.

"Hmmm, well there was that incident at the skyscraper. These nobodies attacked us and Sora started acting pretty weird afterwards. I think that's when he came across Roxas and battled him." Donald squawked.

'_**Kairi, I think we should head over there too.'**_ Naminé spoke up. _**'That's also the place Roxas fought Riku.'**_

'_Alright, it sounds like a plan.'_ Kairi thought before relaying the information to Donald and Goofy.

Once the four found themselves in agreement, the group quickly headed towards the tallest building that was Memory's Skyscraper. It wasn't all that hard to find since all they really had to do was head in the direction of the tall structure that towered over the rest of the buildings that surrounded them. The hard and more annoying part was dispatching the few curious Heartless that they encountered before the creatures could go and call for reinforcements. There were a few close calls, and at one point they even had to take care of a Neoshadow, but in the end they made it to the dark skyscraper unscathed.

The building itself was huge, much taller than everything else in the city, and it looked especially large now that the Castle that Never Was was no longer floating imposingly over the city. On top of the large building were several lit screens filled with static, whose only viewers appeared to be the Heartless that seemed to lurk in the streets. Kairi briefly wondered where the energy to power the city came from, but shrugged off the mystery for another more suitable time.

"There it is!" Donald pointed out, and surely enough, hiding amongst the colored neon lights and the bright screens was the light fragment.

"Quick, before it gets away!" Goofy called.

Knowing what would happen otherwise, the group quickly surrounded the fragment before Kairi rapidly took her charm out. With no other way to go, the fragment was drawn into the charm and back with the rest of its siblings. Once again, light enveloped them all as the rush of memories began.

_Who are you?_

_Why! Why do you have the Keyblade?_

_What are you talking about? I am me! Nobody else!_

_How many times do I have to beat you?_

_I have accepted it._

_Wh-who are you?_

_Someone from the dark._

_Riku? ...I defeated a Riku once._

_You what!_

_Tell me... Tell me why he picked you!_

…

_I see. That's why._

By the time the memory was over, Kairi was left with a half filled shell and a huge migraine. She attributed the latter to the fact that this particular memory was filled with both Sora's and Roxas's emotions playing out simultaneously at some points. Like two strong forces colliding to form a maelstrom.

'_**It's because of their differences.'**_ Naminé commented. _**'Despite being two parts of a whole, they have very different personalities. Almost like the positive and negative poles of a magnet. Though they can complement each other, in this case both their attitudes were conflicting and trying to outdo the other.'**_

'_That's right, Roxas used to see Sora as his enemy, didn't he?'_ Kairi thought as she closed her eyes and put a hand over her forehead.

'_**In a way yes. Everything always went back to Sora. Even his own existence and the reason everything in his life turned out like it did could eventually be traced back to Sora.'**_ Naminé replied. _**'It wasn't really Sora's fault either, but at the time, Roxas couldn't help but scorn him. It wasn't until much later that the two of them accepted one another and began living in harmony. Sora was forced to discover the truth about Roxas before that happened though.'**_

"Kairi are you alright?" Goofy asked with concern.

"Yeah, I was just talking with Naminé." Kairi said, quickly snapping out of her thoughts. "Are we ready to leave then?"

"Once my head stops spinning." Donald squawked angrily as he muttered out a string of curses.

"Aww come on Donald, it wasn't that bad. Ahyuck!" Goofy said and then let out yelp as the angry duck launched a thunder spell at the knight.

Kairi just shook her head at the duo's antics, though a smile was still present on her lips, heck even Naminé was chuckling quietly. _'So this is what you have to deal with, eh Sora?'_

* * *

"See, I told you we would find it sooner or later!" King Mickey said confidently as he approached the wreckage of what once was a gummi ship.

It had taken them some time and more than just a bit of effort to find the remains of the Invincible. It wasn't until they took a less conventional route that they were finally able to find the downed ship. Thankfully, they had only encountered a few Shadows on the way which were quickly dispatched by Mickey with a series of discreet spells, nothing too flashy or eye-catching so as to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

"Hmm, Sora must have already tried salvaging the ship, but it looks like the Invincible didn't live up to its name." Riku said as he pushed a large chunk of blackened metal to assess the ship's state. "There's too much damage. Unless this world just so happens to have a good workshop that has the parts, I don't see how we are going to repair the ship. Even if we could, it would still take too long."

"Well, there goes that idea." Mickey said. "Did you try checking out the radio?"

Riku let out a grunt as he lifted the rectangular device from the wreckage.

"It's a bit roughed up, but I think we can still get it to work. My guess is that something must have come loose on the inside since the cover barely has any dents. Good news is that, the emergency tool box has everything we might need to fix it."

"That's great!" Mickey said. "New let's get back to the building so we can work in peace. Do you need any help carrying that?"

"No, it's alright. I've got this." Riku said as he proceeded to lift the heavy radio and toolbox.

* * *

Sora was faintly aware of the warmth that had spread around his body earlier. Just how long exactly he just couldn't be sure. His mind was still in a semi-conscious state similar to that one commonly experiences before waking up. Minutes could have been hours, and hours could have easily been minutes in that state. All he really knew was that the sudden appearance and then abrupt departure of that comforting heat was enough to make him stir.

'_Where am I?'_ Sora asked himself as a massive yawn made its way out of his mouth.

He was faintly aware that a regular person would be more concerned about waking up in an unknown place, but quite frankly, he just couldn't bring himself to care much about that at the moment. He even considered curling up and trying to go back to sleep, but he knew that at this point, he was far too awake for that to work. And even if he did, he would probably just wake up even more tired afterwards.

Cracking both his eyes open just a bit, and fully expecting the morning light to come and graciously blind him, he was more than just a bit surprised to find that everything was dark. Well, he could clearly see himself laying down on some sort of intricate stained glass platform, but everything beyond the platform was bathed in darkness. After staring down at himself for nearly five minutes, something finally clicked into place.

Ok, so maybe he was _a teensy bit_ slow after waking up.

"AAAH! I'M ME AGAIN!-I mean, I'm back to my old self- I mean older, not younger self." Sora rambled and then let a sigh of relief before smiling. "I have my old voice back! Oh this is great! But, where am I? I know what happened in the last battle, and what's going on now? They did say something about it not being over…"

Getting up from the floor, Sora proceeded to stretch, and for once, truly appreciate having his full height back (he had vowed to one day surpass Riku in all things, height of course being included). Wearing the clothes the fairies gave him also made him feel a lot more comfortable, but even better was that he could once again summon the Keyblade. He had truly missed the comforting weight of the blade in his last battle, and though useful, relying only on magic just wasn't the same.

'_Alright, so how do I get out of here?'_ Sora thought as he furrowed his brows and looked around the intricate golden-themed stained glass platform. After taking a few steps to its center, a large door just seemed to materialize out of thin air. Somehow it reminded him a lot of that dream he had at the beginning of his first journey. It looked very similar to the door he had gone through back then.

He was about to head over and go through the door, when a small golden plate on its surface made him stop in his tracks. He didn´t remember the last door having such a thing. Inching closer, he could clearly make up some inscriptions written in delicate writing.

_Tell me what I hold and I will open._

Sora tilted his head in confusion before taking hold of the doorknob and turning it. It didn't budge.

'_Well it doesn't hurt to try.'_ Sora thought with a small shrug. _'But what does the inscription mean? Is it some kind of riddle?'_

Sora repeated the riddle in his head, his mind trying to wrap around its hidden meaning. After calling out various answers hoping it would be one of them, it quickly became clear that the door wasn't asking as much for a verbal answer as it was asking for some kind of miracle on his part.

'_How am I supposed to know what is behind the door? I mean, isn't that the whole reason I am trying to open it in the first place?'_ Sora thought in frustration before plopping down on the floor with his legs crossed and glaring straight at the current bane of his existence. _'I am SO not good at this.'_

Sora continued with the random answers until he couldn't think of anything else to say. He even tried using the Keyblade to open it (both by opening the lock and trying to tear it open by force), but it just wouldn't budge. It appeared that the door wouldn't open unless he really did know what was on the other side.

Letting out a small groan, Sora closed his eyes and massaged his temple. '_This is going to take forever.'_

* * *

"Guys, I think we may have a slight problem." Kairi said as she looked ahead.

After a long debate about where the next fragment would be, and an even longer trek through the Heartless infested streets of the dark city to get to their next destination, they had arrived at the Brink of Despair only to remember that the Castle that Never Was had ceased to exist some time ago. Unfortunately, that also happened to be the most likely site in this world to harbor the fragments. Most of their battles had taken place there rather than in the city.

"Gawrsh, what are we supposed to do now?" Goofy asked.

"Well unless one of us can fly over there and get it, there isn't much we can do." Kairi said.

Goofy seemed to look thoughtful and then turned towards Donald. "Maybe you should give it a try Donald."

This only seemed to anger the duck further, judging by the way his whole face became as red as a ripe tomato, even visible through his clearly ruffled feathers. Whatever insults he was trying to throw at the knight were lost amidst the many indignant squawks, though honestly, Kairi wasn't sure she wanted to know. Ever.

"But I thought you were a duck!" Goofy defended himself as Donald shot him with another weak (albeit painful) thunder spell.

"Let's just try some other way." Kairi said as she tried to pacify the angry bird. Unfortunately, in doing so Kairi failed to notice the stirring shadows on the ground.

"Kairi look out!" Goofy called, but Kairi found herself unable to react fast enough.

* * *

"There, I think we should be good to go." Riku said as he wiped some sweat off his brow and dropped the screwdriver he had been using back into the toolbox next to him. "Did you set up the antenna?"

"Yep, it´s all done. Now all we have to do is try to reach Cid's frequency." Mickey said as he reached over and began to fiddle with the dial, until there was a minimal amount of static. "Hello Cid, are you there? Do you copy? If there is anybody listening to this message, please respond as quickly as possible."

Riku took a deep breath and settled on a rather old chair nearby to wait. Looking outside of the window and into the dark city below, he had to force down the shiver that ran down his pine. Instead he just looked at his watch and tried to calm his nerves down.

'_It's okay, they still have fifteen minutes.'_ He assured himself. _'Everything will be just fine.'_

* * *

Back in Twilight Town, Cid Highwind found himself taking a long drag out of one of his cigarettes. He had just received a transmission from Leon telling him to hurry things up. Unfortunately he really had no power to do so at the moment. He really had no idea where the group had run off to, though he already had plans to thoroughly skin them when they got back.

"Can't they give a guy some warning." Cid muttered to himself angrily, being at least thankful that the streets were empty, or otherwise he would be getting odd looks from people that may have thought he was crazy.

This tension just wasn't good for him, hence the reason he was now indulging himself in front of a currently invisible gummi ship, while waiting for the others to show up. Tifa and Aerith would kill him when they found out he had relapsed, but smoking really did help him calm his nerves.

"He-o -Cid, are you -ere? D- you copy?" Cid heard faintly as he took another drag, but then choked on the inhaled smoke when he realized that the sound was coming from inside the ship. "If there is an-body listening to this messa-, plea- respond as quick- as possible."

The blonde pilot rushed inside the gummi ship and quickly turned on the communication settings to speak, after a few tweaks he managed to get all the static out of the transmission.

"Cid here, I copy you loud and clear, what's the situation?" The pilot said. From the other side he could hear a shuffle and what sounded like a sigh of relief.

"Hello Cid? This is Mickey. We're currently stranded in The World that Never Was. We need you to come here asap."

Cid just let out a long string of curses. "What the hell are you doing over there?"

"We found a fragment on the passageway over here. The passageway collapsed so we're currently stuck. All of us are safe so far, but we can't think of another way of getting out. Also, there's a large possibility that there are fragments here too. We sent Donald, Goofy and Kairi in a group to search for them."

"All right, I'll be right over." Cid said, not liking the idea of splitting up into groups in a world renowned for its number of Heartless.

"How long will it take?"Mickey asked.

"When will you regroup?" Cid shot back.

"In about fifteen minutes." Mickey replied after a small pause.

"Alright, I'll be there in an hour. Actually, make that forty minutes." Cid answered and earned a surprised gasp from the small king.

"Cid that's-" King Mickey began, but was interrupted.

"Fast, I know, but we don't have much choice. I just got some news from Leon. Kid is having a fit again so we will have to hurry it up-" Cid said, but was cut off by a by the sound of something clattering against the ground, heavy footsteps, and a surprised yelp from the king.

"RIKU!" Mickey cried out, but before Cid could ask what was going on, the small king replied. "Listen Cid I have to go, we will signal you forty minutes from now with our location, so keep a look out from the sky. Goodbye!"

The line was then taken over by a loud static, signaling the end of the transmission. Cid just let out a curse before putting out his cancer stick and heading over to the cockpit. Quickly seating himself down and grabbing hold of the wheel, Cid turned on the engines and rapidly took out into the skies at nearly full throttle. Twilight skies soon turned to star dotted black, as the blonde exited the world's atmosphere. He ignored the strong force that pushed against his body, threatening to crush the air right out of his lungs, and instead accelerated even more.

He really had no time to waste.

* * *

Riku ran down the streets knowing that Mickey was following closely behind. He had seen it outside the grimy old window while Mickey talked to the pilot. The one thing he did not want to see at the moment, and yet the one thing he fully expected to see; the emergency signal that lit the sky red for even the shortest of moments.

"Come on, the signal was coming from where the entrance to the castle used to be." Riku said urging his feet to run faster.

Behind him the King didn't give one word of protest. They both knew that this wasn't the time to complain, or the time to start a fight. Not with each other at least.

"Alright, lets hurry over there." Mickey said as he pointed to the emergency fire escape of a nearby building.

They climbed over to the top and then the duo proceeded to jump over the rooftops. The buildings themselves weren't built that far apart from each other and they all had a similar height, so the process was made a lot easier. Emergencies like these often called for somewhat unconventional methods.

_'It works._' Riku thought with a mental shrug as he gathered momentum and jumped across the gap separating two buildings.

"We have little over half an hour until Cid gets here. Until then, we will just have to hold on." Mickey said. The silver haired boy said nothing, but Mickey caught the quick nod the teen had sent his way.

Under the eerie light of the moon Riku's hair reflected a haunting silver glow, and to anybody else they probably looked like nothing more than a pale silver wraith on the hunt and a small dark shadow that followed close behind.

* * *

Kairi grit her teeth as she clutched her injured arm. A soothing green light enveloped her and once she realized that her injury had just healed before her eyes, she thanked Donald and decided to take things up a notch.

'_It's not like we have another choice.'_ Kairi thought dryly.

She had just been trying to stop a quarrel between her two teammates when they were ambushed by a large group of Shadows and Neoshadows. Kairi wasn't all that sure what suddenly made them swarm towards them in the first place. That is, until she realized that, bordering the brink they currently found themselves next to, was a massive hole where the Castle that Never Was used to loom over. The inside of that hole was seemingly paved in a writhing mass of black and several thousand pairs of yellow eyes.

Somehow, they had stumbled upon the Heartless equivalent of a giant beehive. Of course, just like bees, these pureblooded Heartless didn't take to trespassers either.

Bringing some distance between her and her opponent, Kairi held out her hand and grimaced slightly before summoning Destiny's Embrace. Donald seemed to protest through squawks that she couldn't make heads or tails of. But the damage was already done. Besides, she really wouldn't have done it if she saw any other choice.

Donald had already sent up the emergency signal, so she knew that Riku and the King were on their way. They had already finished all their potions and ethers, and at the moment her magic reserves were drier than Agraba in mid-summer. She suspected that Donald's were in a similar state, and to make matters worse, she knew that there was just no way Goofy could take so many opponents all at once. Not when there were so many and coming at them from all sides, making an escape impossible.

That left her only with one solution; they would have to hold out.

Taking a deep breath and readying herself, Kairi let out a battle cry and swung her Keyblade.

* * *

Sora stared upwards at the darkness as he lay down on the soft glass surface with his arms spread open. He was really starting to miss the warmth of the sun and the soothing sounds of the waves. Even if it was an illusion, it at least broke him out of the monotony of this place.

"I gotta get out of this place or I'll go crazy." Sora muttered to himself. He could really see it happening. Being confined to such a small place for so long wasn't doing wonders for his psyche. "Though maybe…maybe it's a good thing."

Until the riddle was solved he had no way of proceeding. Normally he would be desperate to continue. He was just the kind of guy that rushed in to save the day and always managed to wing it somehow. But maybe it was a good thing to wait. He had just been through two very tough battles that he nearly hadn't made it through. Not to mention that 'Riku' said that he was barely halfway through, which meant that there could _easily_ be a third and even a fourth super tough battle waiting for him right through that door.

'_Yeah that last opponent was a real creep. Maybe this would be a good time to rest and think things through.'_ Sora thought, knowing that the latter wasn't really one of his strong points. Most of his friends kept telling him to think before leaping into dangerous situations. So maybe this was the perfect time for that. Maybe he could even figure out the riddle while he was at it.

Sitting down with his legs crossed, Sora traced the individual pieces of glass below him as his mind wandered elsewhere.

'_I remember being in a battle at Radiant Garden. The wound in my chest got worse and I couldn't fight. __Then everything went crazy. The others had to stop me and the next thing I know I ended up in this place. Then the voice spoke. What was it that it said?'_ Sora questioned himself. Closing his eyes he tried to recall the words_. 'There was something about falling in darkness, and fighting an enemy that was inside of me. There was also something about virtue and not giving up. Then the platform collapsed under me. Though, now that I think about it, that platform was red, while this one is yellow._

Sora sighed and silently thought about the battle that followed afterwards. He hadn't been able to see anything at all and almost gave up in that moment. The fear of the unknown had held him back, not to mention that for some strange reason he hadn't been able to use magic. That red lion-like heartless was a real berserker and even at the end Sora didn't think that the beast would ever go down. In the end, he was forced to forget his fears and fight for his own survival.

The second battle had been the complete polar opposite. For the most part, he didn't even know that there was a fight going on. In its owl-like form the creature didn't appear as much. Only when it unveiled its massive phoenix-like form did he realize what he had really gotten into. That Heartless's main ability was manipulation, and though it had been swift in combat, its greatest threat lay in its magical capabilities and its trickery. Unlike his first enemy, this odd blue heartless was more brain than brawn. And it had taken a lot of strategy and brainpower in order to defeat him, _especially_ when he found himself in that smaller form and without being able to summon the Keyblade.

'_I defeated it too…but where does that put me now?'_ Sora thought to himself. '_Is there another enemy? Obviously there must be if I'm still here. But, maybe there is some kind order they follow. I mean, it can't all possibly be a coincidence. Can it? There was something oddly familiar about those Heartless. They were so strong too, but they felt dark. Though, I can't say I didn't learn from those battles. Just what were they?'_

Sora closed his eyes and concentrated.

"Keyblade Master who in darkness has fallen. Take up your arms and fight, for in yourself lies your greatest enemy." Sora recited as he struggled for the words. "Myself? Then does that mean that those Heartless…they were a part of me?"

Sora paused as the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place and create a clearer picture.

"Fight with virtue…but they had fallen in darkness." Sora mused and then realization hit him. "The first Heartless, the red lion, it did nothing but attack, even if injured. It was nothing more than a mindless berserker. The battle with it taught me about courage even though the creature was nothing but brash. The second heartless, the blue bird, was very smart, but it used its brains to manipulate me into thinking what it wanted. It was a nothing more than an evil mastermind. In that battle I was forced to use my own brain for good and learn from my mistakes."

Suddenly it all made sense.

"Both those Heartless represented values. Values that were corrupted by the darkness. Brashness and trickery. Originally they were Valor and Wisdom." Sora said as his eyes widened in realization. "Wait, if that's true then maybe the point of this riddle wasn't to slow me down. It was to prepare me for what was coming! If I am really fighting parts of myself, then that means that my next opponent, what really is behind this door, it's-"

Suddenly a small 'click' resonated across the area making Sora pause in his tracks and blink in stupefaction. Turning towards the source of the sound, he ended up staring at the previously locked door.

"So that's it then." Sora muttered to himself as he walked towards it.

Sora gripped the doorknob before pausing. After closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath, the Keyblade Master slowly opened the door before him and disappeared in the darkness beyond it.

* * *

**Canis: "We did it. FINALLY!"**

**Crystal: "Yeah, sorry for the delay. Still, I hope none of your readers come after me with pitchforks."**

**Canis: "Well, I suppose it was my fault for sending the wrong, unfinished file."**

**Crystal: "Half my fault. I should have been suspicious of it not being longer."**

**Canis: "Anyways, chapter 17 has just recently been started, but I would really appreciate the feedback."**

**Crystal: "So please review!"**


	17. Master

**HH Chapter 16: Master**

**Okay, it took long, but it's finally done. A lot of effort went into this particular chapter, and I am quite happy with how it turned out. Trust me, it was in no way easy to write, especially since I kept getting distracted with hoards of plot bunnies.**

**Anyways, thanks to all of those who have been sticking with the story so far. As usual, feedback is greatly appreciated. It both inspires and pushes me to continue writing.**

**ARR (Anonymous Review Replies):**

_To (seriously, that's it):_

_I am glad that you like the story so far. Sorry for the delay, but here is the next chapter (better late than never). This is one is much longer, too. Thanks for reviewing!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, Axel would have miraculously survived, only to follow Roxas back to Destiny Islands.**

* * *

Suddenly a small 'click' resonated across the area making Sora pause in his tracks and blink in stupefaction. Turning towards the source of the sound, he ended up looking at the previously locked door.

"So that's it then." Sora muttered to himself as he walked towards it.

Sora gripped the doorknob before pausing. After closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath, the Keyblade Master slowly opened the door before him and disappeared in the darkness beyond it.

* * *

The first thing that Sora noticed about the room beyond was the complete lack of a floor. He wouldn't have dared to set foot on the black expanse below him had it not been for the spotlight ahead, that even from this distance, cast a glossy reflection over his path. The thing he noticed was that right ahead, just under the spotlight, was what appeared to be another door. This one however, was of a brilliant golden color that almost seemed to glow under the light in a very tantalizing manner.

'_What is this place?'_ Sora thought as he turned to look at the entire room in awe.

He hadn't noticed it before because of the luminous golden door, but now that he really took notice of it, there was much more than just a black void around him. There were small lights twinkling all around him with different colors and intensities, some smaller than others, and some clustered in groups. Sora quickly realized that he was looking at stars.

There were also breathtaking formations of all sorts of shapes and sizes, galaxies far away taking on spiral shapes as well as nebulae that floated there like dazzling clouds of blended colors. No matter how many times he saw the sight outside of the gummi ship window, it just never ceased to amaze him. To think that each of those tiny lights was a separate world, each filled with stories and adventures. It really made all those worlds he had visited look like nothing. He couldn't help but feel humbled by the sight.

'_Wait, this is no time to enjoy the view. You gotta keep moving on.'_ Sora thought to himself and then walked quickly towards the only visible exit; the radiant golden door.

Yet before he could get there he was nearly thrown off his feet by an invisible force that sent him flying through the air before falling on the glossy surface of the ground. Sora quickly got to his feet, just as the ground beneath him began to tremble with terrifying strength.

'_Is this it? The third?' _Sora asked himself, his eyes wide as he heard a deep roar and felt the glossy surface beneath him shatter and give away.

Sora gasped at the feeling of weightlessness as he fell backwards, his feet lo longer sustaining their proper hold on the ground. For a moment, his mind went blank as he saw the golden door move farther away, and Sora raised his arm out in desperation. It was then that his senses were drawn to the roar coming from somewhere below him and then the sudden giant blur of black and gold rushed right in front of him, obscuring his vision of the golden door. The blur continued to twist and turn with serpentine movements, and much to his shock, he had yet to see its other end.

Another roar reverberated through the air, only this time it originated from the black and gold blur. Sora looked up to see where the creature currently glided through the air in intricate knot like movements, even as it remained stationary. When he finally got a good glance at the creature, he couldn't help but gasp.

It was a dragon.

A long, longer than anything he had faced before, gold and black dragon, like those he had seen covering the palaces of the Land of Dragons, floated majestically before him. It had a black and gold helm like face with stag-like horns, two long whiskers at each side of its face, and a long snout filled with two rows of cruel and razor sharp teeth. Beneath the helm, a flowing mane of golden fire flared behind him. Its scaly body had rows of armor like scales protecting its front as well as a pair of arms and legs tipped with curved and dangerous-looking claws. The other scales on the rest of its body formed patterns on its hide like a snake, only these were 'X' shaped and shifted colors depending on the location. The dragon was black with golden markings at the beginning and then slowly shifted to gold with black markings near its end. Another odd feature that Sora then noticed once he got a full view of the creature was that its tail split into two forked ones near the middle, and that the dragon carried a crystal sphere in its talons, similar to those he always imagined fortunetellers used for scrying. The contents of that sphere however, were obscured by what appeared to be mist that clouded up its inside.

**So, are you the runt that dares challenge ME?**

Sora braced himself, and to his surprise, he stopped falling. Instead, he floated in the air almost as if held up by fairy dust. A mocking roar reverberating through the air just as the Heartless's words reached him.

**ME, the one that conquers both valor and wisdom?**

Sora grit his teeth in anger as more roaring laughter reached his ears, the Heartless's mouth open just wide enough for him to get a good look at its long curving fangs. The Heartless's eyes narrowed through the slits of its helm. A glowing golden pupil looked down at him from a sea of black.

**What chance do you think you possess?**

"Are you 'master'?" Sora asked and he only received deep chuckles as a response.

**Indeed I am, but it won't matter after I am through with you. NOW BRACE YOURSELF KEYBLADE WEILDER IF YOU EVEN HOPE TO STAND A CHANCE!**

The dragon let out a deafening roar, before the air in front of it became saturated with magic, and visible bolts of lightning began to flare all around it. Sora gritted his teeth and quickly began to dodge the bolts in the air, which proved difficult since it had been a long time since he had to fight like this and he had mostly forgotten how to steer himself in the air. Yet to his immediate surprise, he found out that he could actually kick off in the air. It was like the air beneath him would solidify into that glossy transparent substance at will. Unfortunately, his surprise was quite short lived when a blur of gold came at him from the left after another barrage of thunder, and struck him right in the middle. Sora flew through the air until hitting an invisible wall of the same glossy material. After opening his eyes, he realized that the dragon had used one of its tails to strike him with whip-like precision. Not only that, but the dragon had now decided to end the one-sided fight with a massive fireball from its mouth.

**How disappointing.**

Sora's eyes widened as he saw the incoming attack, and he quickly summoned his keyblade, before concentrating on his magic to form a barrier around him. The fireball was just feet away from him when the barrier solidified into a reflect spell, a loud explosion ringing through the air as the attack made contact, and the barrier shattered after the impact, sending small bits of it back towards the dragon in retaliation.

**Ha, nice try.**

The dragon roared, mocking the keyblade wielder as the shattered fragments of his barrier struck uselessly at the Heartless´s armor-like scales, not even leaving a scratch on them. Seeing this, Sora couldn't help but feel a sense of unease crawl over him. There weren't many heartless that were completely immune to a reflect backlash. This heartless was certainly built like a tank. And yet, it could still boast some more-than-just-decent speed and magic. Clearly he would need another strategy than just facing the creature head on.

**Have you given up?**

The dragon's teasing voice echoed through his mind clearly despite the load roars. Sora clenched his left hand into a fist, his right hand held tightly around Oblivion. His jaw was set straight as he looked at the being before him. He had come too far to give up now. He had long since passed the point of no return. He could either beat this thing and move on, or give up and lose everything, and he didn't particularly feel like losing at the moment.

"No way!" Sora said, azure eyes narrowed as he settled into a fighting stance and held the keyblade before him. His actions were greeted by more laughter, but rather than backing away, Sora just grit his teeth before breaking into a run towards his opponent.

Seeing the attack, the dragon quickly unleashed an animalistic roar of anger before whipping both tails in his direction. But rather than letting himself get caught by them, Sora simply jumped nimbly over them before propelling himself forward by kicking in the air behind him and brandishing his blade right in front of him.

"I'm not giving up yet!"

* * *

Kairi panted heavily as she brushed the sweat off her brow with the back of her hand. Her arms hurt and her legs felt like jelly under her. They had been at it for what seemed like hours now, and even then, there was just no end to the Heartless attacking them. For every Heartless they defeated, two stronger ones seemed to take its place, even more so now that she was fighting with the keyblade.

"Kairi, are you alright?" Goofy asked in concern as he rammed onto a Heartless with his shield and away from her.

The girl only nodded as she was really too tired to use words. They were surrounded on all sides; basically forming an island of color amidst a sea of black and dotted yellow. She knew they couldn't easily escape like this, but if they didn't get away soon, they would simply be overwhelmed by the masses. It wasn't like she had a limitless amount of energy. Heck, because she was still pretty new at this, her stamina was quite poor compared to Riku or even Sora. Sora, of course, had the highest stamina and speed amongst the three. Riku however, boasted the greatest strength.

'_I hope he gets here fast. How were we supposed to know that this place ended up as a heartless nesting ground?'_ Kairi thought tiredly as she used Destiny's Embrace as a temporary crutch while she regained her breath.

'_**Kairi, Neoshadow to your left!' **_Naminé's voice urged and Kairi quickly swung her blade in response, striking the sneaky heartless right across the chest.

'_Thanks.'_ Kairi mentally replied. Naminé wasn't much of a fighter, but she really did make herself useful during fights. Now that she had surfaced from deep within her, it was like having an extra set of eyes on the back of her head. This of course, was extremely useful when dealing with Heartless that routinely sank into the ground to take their opponents by surprise.

Still, she wasn't sure for how much longer she could keep this up. It certainly didn't help that most of the creatures were coming after her, and not Donald or Goofy. Kairi knew that there were probably a lot or reasons for that. For starters, she was fighting with the keyblade; a 'Heartless bane' that also happened to work as a magnet, and made any Heartless nearby see her as a huge threat to their survival. Secondly, she was a Princess of the Heart which meant she didn't have any darkness in her heart, and thus, a rather succulent prey for any Heartless in the hunt for hearts. Thirdly, she was also carrying Sora's light fragments within her charm, which she could only guess strengthened that attraction to lethal levels.

"Donald!" Kairi cried out as she saw the duck fall over on the hard pavement. Running over to his side, Kairi slashed at a couple of Shadows that were crawling towards him, their antennas twitching erratically before they faded. Kairi knelt down to check on him while Goofy covered their back, thankfully the duck was just unconscious and his only injuries were the several small scratches that covered him, his body obviously protected somewhat by the many white feathers.

With his magic depleted, the mage had little to protect himself with and had become an easy pick for the enemy waves. Beside her she could see that Goofy wasn't faring all that well either. His attacks consumed to much energy and they were unable to take out as many targets as he wanted. His skills were simply suited best for defense, but not when surrounded by the enemy on all sides.

Yet she couldn't help but feel it was her fault. Deep down she cursed that light of hers that had attracted what appeared to be every single Heartless here like a giant beacon. Maybe if she hadn't been so stubborn. Riku was right to have been worried. On hindsight, sending her off to join the search in the streets that were almost literally flooded with Heartless that gathered near her like moths to a flame wasn't really the most brilliant idea.

But again both Naminé and the more rational part of her brain argued that she was wrong to feel this way. Even if this world was known for being closer to the darkness, they had no idea and no real way of knowing that there would be so many; the sheer size of their numbers was almost ridiculous. And if she had stayed behind, that would have meant being alone and therefore more vulnerable and easier to pick off than if she was with someone else. Lastly there was also the fact that, along with Naminé, they were the only ones that could actually sense the fragments nearby. As much as she was a beacon, she was also a compass. Therefore, the search for the fragments they already found would have taken much longer to find and the risk would have been higher, considering that they really didn't have time to waste.

'_Just where are they?'_ Kairi thought with exhaustion and aggravation as each of her swings became weaker and more sluggish than the one before.

'_**Kairi, there's three Neoshadows behind you!'**_ Naminé said in alarm, making Kairi's eyes widen in surprise. There was just no way she could turn around and dispose of them all in time. Instead, she just turned on her heel and brought Destiny's Embrace closer, bracing herself in an attempt to block as many hits as she could, though she knew that the chances of blocking them all would be impossible.

Yet before their sharp claws made contact with her blade's metal, she saw a flash of something golden that flew past, spinning in the air, before taking out one of the Heartless. The remaining two were blown away as a ball of blue fire collided against them.

"Kairi! Are you alright?" Kairi heard a voice coming from somewhere above, and once she turned towards the source, she saw both Riku and Mickey fighting off the Heartless on top of the building next to them.

"I'm okay, just tired." Kairi replied. "But Donald is unconscious, and I don't know for how long we can keep this up."

"Alright, hold on I'll be right there." Riku called before using Way to the Dawn to clear a path through the building's fire escape and reach her location. When he finally reached her, he quickly put a small bottle in her hands. "Here drink this. Goofy, do you think you have enough strength to carry Donald?"

"Gawrsh, I guess I do." The knight said rather out of breath. Riku nodded.

"Wait, what is happening? Did you manage to contact Cid?" Kairi asked once she finished the Hi-potion that Riku had handed her.

"We did. He'll be here in about half an hour." Riku said as he slashed at a rather impatient heartless, making it disappear in a display of black smoke. Kairi just gave him a disbelieving look. "I know that's too long, but that's the best we've got. We'll have to hold on until then. That's why we need to get to higher ground so that he'll be able to see us."

"But Riku, we haven't found all the fragments yet!" Kairi told the teen who just looked at the girl in disbelief. "We have most of them, but we think the rest are where the castle used to stand."

"Are you serious? That place is at the center of their 'nest'!" Riku said but then ran a hand through his hair. "Alright, let's get out of here and then calmly think this through."

* * *

'_M-my head.'_ Riku mentally winced as his newly acquired headache got worse. He didn't know if it was all because of the stress or something else entirely. The pain hadn't started until after they set off to find and rescue the group. When it started, he couldn't help but experience an uneasy feeling in his stomach, though he supposed it was all because of his worry for Kairi's wellbeing. But if that was true, then why hadn't the feeling left?

Riku lead the group through the same fire escape he came down from. While he got rid of any Heartless in the front, Kairi would take out the ones following them so that Goofy could carry Donald without any problems. Mickey would also help with some magic from the top of the building. Once there, the two able warriors took defensive positions at each side of the group.

"Well, what do we do now?" Riku asked the mouse king after he finished explaining their current predicament. The small king just looked at him straight in his currently discolored eyes before sighing.

"The biggest problem is that we can't simply walk in there, not to mention that we don't even know if the fragments are there. With so many Heartless present, it really wouldn't surprise me if one managed to get it before we did." Mickey replied, swinging his keyblade to take out two Heartless that had gotten uncomfortably close to him.

"But we still need the remaining fragments. They are the reason we came here in the first place." Kairi said, still winded by the attack.

"I know we need to get there, but I would feel much safer doing it once Cid is here." Mickey replied as he looked just over the edge of the building and into the black abyss beyond it, right below to where the castle used to stand.

It did make sense. Cid could get them off the ground and shoot at the Heartless from far away from his ship to cause some massive damage. That would easily create an opening for them. Even if he couldn't, the man still carried all sorts of medicine and supplies with him that they could definitely use.

"So we wait it out until he gets here?" Riku asked with a grunt as he slammed a Neoshadow away from him.

"I think that would be the wisest choice at the moment." Mickey said with a slight grimace. "It's not exactly nice, but it's the best chance we've got. We'll have to outlast these guys though, so focus on saving your strength. We'll have to use attacks that take up as little energy as possible, or we won't make it."

"Got it." Riku replied. Swinging his blade with skill and precision, he stabbed through a Heartless in an effective, albeit not as flashy, move. He was just about to defend against the leaping Neoshadow that replaced it, when he heard a sudden deep and menacing roar that made him and the others freeze on the spot. Even the many Heartless seemed to pause in alert before sinking into the ground and leaving, some of them actually leaping away in what looked like instinctive panic.

"G-Guys, am I the only one who thinks something really bad is about to happen?" Kairi said, backing away nervously away from the side of the building that faced the giant hole. Riku looked at the girl with narrowed eyes, his mind doing flips as he thought about the possibilities. There was another earth-shaking roar and this time Riku actually fell to his knees when a sharp pain flashed and seared his insides.

"S-so much darkness." Riku hissed in pain, barely noticing that Kairi was calling his name while frantically shaking his shoulder. He didn't notice her being pulled away either by the king when black fire seemed to flare around him.

Riku opened his eyes slightly, only to notice the black organization cloak covering him. He was about to voice out his surprise, his eyes already as wide as they could go, when he suddenly felt a familiar shift inside of him.

'_Oh no, not this!'_ Riku thought in slight panic. He recognized this feeling anywhere. He always got it before shifting into _that_ form; the one that resembled Xenahort so much. 'I can't let this happen again!'

Doing the only thing that had helped him during all this time, Riku quickly shut his eyes closed and prayed that this would be enough to hold that raging darkness inside him under control.

To his immense relief, it worked. And if it hadn't been for the horrifying roar that followed along with the awful sensation of the ground shaking beneath him and the gasp coming from his side, Riku would have indeed been a very happy teen.

* * *

Kairi stared in shock at the 'thing' before her, her concern for Riku having been momentarily put on hold as the creature began to rise steadily from the large hole were the castle used to be. At this point, Kairi wasn't even sure if that thing was a Heartless, though she didn't have as much experience as the others, she was confident by the other's reactions that they had never seen anything like this either.

If she had to say the first thing that came to her mind when she saw it, she would definitely say 'giant' or 'golem'. It was humanoid in shape and stood higher than any of the buildings surrounding it, in fact, many parts of its body seemed to be _made up_ of buildings. The only parts that weren't were the gaps in between that seemed to be emitting darkness. The other most notable feature besides its size was the large crown over its head that seemed to be made of a white material similar to the one that the castle was made out of. If Kairi had to take a guess, she'd say that those _were_ pieces of the old castle, since the old spiky pieces bearing the Nobody symbols, the exact same she had seen in her stay there, had been the ones fashioned into a crown. Besides that, there was another large piece of the same material over where its heart should have been in the shape of the Nobody symbol. Kairi couldn't help but feel that, despite the symbol, this thing was clearly not a Nobody.

No, the more she saw it the more sense it made. This wasn't a Nobody. It was a Heartless, but not just any Heartless either, this was the hive's 'queen'.

The Heartless let out another roar despite having no mouth, this time its eyes which were made up entirely of static filled screens like those of Memory's Skyscraper turned to look down at the group below.

"Gawrsh what do we do now?" Goofy said nervously as he tried to remain as still as possible.

"Riku, can you still fight?" King Mickey asked, his eyes not looking away from the massive creature.

"Yeah, I think I can." Riku said, eyes still shut and a small wince in his voice. "I'll just do it like before."

"Alright. Goofy, I want you to take Donald and Kairi and get them far away from here while we distract it." Mickey said. "Keep an eye out in the skies for Cid. He should be here in about 20 minutes or so. We'll meet up with you later."

'_**Kairi, your pocket!'**_ Naminé urged. Looking down, she could see that a soft glow was coming from the pocket where she had stashed the charm. Oddly enough, the glow seemed to be slowly intensifying and then weakening as if in warning.

'_What's this?'_ Kairi thought to herself as she pulled the charm out. To her surprise, the changing glow intensified as she brought it up. Her gaze flicked towards the charm, and then towards the large Heartless still roaring before them. _'Is it trying to tell me something?'_

'_**Kairi, you don't think that the Heartless has the fragments do you?'**_ Naminé asked, and Kairi narrowed her eyes. It was entirely possible that the light fragments from inside the Heartless were reacting to their siblings inside the charm.

"Kairi, come on we have to go." Goofy urged. Kairi just stayed put.

Shaking her head, Kairi put her charm back inside her pocket and turned towards the king. Either way she would need to tell him first.

"King Mickey, wait." Kairi called out just as the diminutive king had set out to distract the Heartless.

"What is it Kairi? You should really get a move on, don't worry, we'll be fine." King Mickey assured them, but Kairi only shook her head.

"It's not that. Naminé and I think that Heartless has the remaining fragments. That's why we can't just run away from it, we have to fight it!" Kairi said, and Mickey looked at her before turning towards the towering creature that was slowly dragging itself towards them since the lower half of its body was still in the hole.

"Well that certainly does change things." Mickey said, considering the new information.

"What is it?" Riku asked, eyes still closed as he approached the two, Way to the Dawn already in hand.

"There's been a change of plans. We're taking this Heartless down." Mickey said as he pulled out a small bag from his pockets and handed it to Kairi. Riku looked surprised at first but then nodded, knowing that if the King was changing his plans then it was for a valid reason. "Here Kairi, take these Ethers. Since Donald isn't conscious I want you to give us some magical support while Riku and I tackle this thing head on. Goofy, you're in no condition to fight so I want you to watch over Donald and take him away to safety if things get bad. Try to see if you can signal Cid when you see him."

With another roar the Heartless slowly reached out with a gigantic hand made completely out of smaller buildings. Seeing that the fight had begun, Goofy reluctantly nodded and walked away with Donald slung over his shoulder. Kairi took cover from behind a wall where she could cast with relative peace while still having the two males in her sight. Riku and the King just ran over to the edge and jumped on the outstretched hand, Mickey dashing forth and jumping with unmatched agility while Riku followed with a slower albeit more destructive pace, slashing at the buildings and in many cases, cutting right through them which elicited angry cries from the golem-like creature.

Despite his current handicap, Riku's performance hadn't decreased in one bit.

Kairi saw the Heartless raise his other hand to squash Riku, the silver teen being forced to hold onto something or risk falling down into the darkness below. Quickly rushing to her friend's rescue, Kairi raised Destiny's Embrace and pointed it at the Heartless's 'face'. Gathering the magic into the blade, Kairi was quick to shoot a long ranged fire spell that sailed over the air before striking the Heartless right where its eyes should have been, the spell actually burning out several of the screens, and making the Heartless stop its assault to cry out instead. Its arms waved frantically towards it face, which only made things worse since Riku was already clinging to its arm, and only used this opportunity to send his keyblade spinning towards its newly received injuries like a deadly projectile. King Mickey on the other hand sent a bluish white sphere of magic that intercepted the creature's arm just as it swung wildly in Riku's direction.

Kairi smiled slightly as she saw the damage they had already done. Thankfully, the Heartless was just close enough for her spells to reach it. Unfortunately, this also made her dangerously close to its attacks, but she knew she could get away quickly should the need arise. She was still very surprised by how well this whole thing was going.

'_Only a bit more.'_ Kairi said as she prepared the next spell.

She was about to unleash it when a loud roar and the shaking of the cement beneath her made her lose her concentration and force her to move to the side as the concrete cracked, the force of the shaking ground being too much for it to withstand. Another frightening change was happening to the Heartless as well. The busted up screens from its face were falling off, to reveal new ones right behind it. But more than that, the whole creature looked like it was trying to rise to its full height.

The ground shook more violently and this time Kairi was forced to get off the roof altogether before the structurally unsound building collapsed under her. Similar things were occurring to the buildings surrounding the hole, only a lot of them seemed to fall apart before tumbling down right into the dark abyss.

_'What's happening?_' Kairi thought in panic as she saw Riku and the King holding tightly onto any crevice they could find or risk falling to their death.

The creature roared again and then, much to her shock, it began climbing right out of the hole. Kairi could only look on with horror as she saw the creature's lower half rise. It didn't sport two legs like she expected the giant to. Instead, what she saw was two pairs of quadruped legs with a long thin tail, all of these made up with buildings connected through thick darkness that had taken on a thick goo-like consistency. Besides that, several more spikes seemed to protrude from several parts of the creature's body like its 'hips' and 'shoulders' making the heartless take on the appearance of a massive crowned and armored centaur.

Kairi found herself shivering as she felt the massive amounts of darkness that radiated from the creature. Her gaze then travelled to the red blur that was King Mickey, who had somehow managed to stay on the behemoth of a Heartless by using his small size as an advantage and slipping inside one of the buildings that made up the creature's shoulder.

'_Wait, where is Riku?'_ Kairi asked herself in panic. She tried to look for his unmistakable mane of silver hair since his clothing had been replaced by the organization cloak that made him blend rather than stand out. Unfortunately the teen was nowhere in sight. "Riku!"

'_**Kairi, over there!'**_ Naminé pointed out. The redheaded girl turned and gasped as she saw that Riku was currently struggling off the side of the creature, both legs hanging in the air behind him as he frantically tried to pull himself up. The only problem was that it didn't seem to be working very well. From here, Kairi could see that something was wrong with her friend. _**'I think it's the darkness coming from the Heartless. It's hurting him like before.'**_

'_What?' _Kairi asked but then looked on in shock as the massive centaur-like heartless reared up on its hind legs and then bucked like a bronco, sending Riku spiraling down into the ground nearby.

Kairi gasped as she looked on while holding on to a nearby wall or risked falling to the ground due to the intense quake. Using some quick last minute thinking, she charged her magic and sent a reflect spell through her Keyblade and towards Riku. The crystal barrier surrounded him from all sides and disappeared after he collided against the ground, the barrier taking the brunt of the fall.

"Riku are you alright?" Kairi asked as she ran towards the crater he had left in the ground and then kneeled down by his side.

"Yeah, thanks." Riku said and then groaned as he got up. "That's was some real quick thinking."

"Riku, maybe you should let King Mickey finish this. The darkness coming off from it, it's making yours go haywire isn't it?" Kairi said and Riku sighed.

"He is strong but even he can't handle this thing on his own." The silver-haired teen said as he summoned Way to the Dawn. "You said so yourself. We _need_ to take it out. If there is even a small chance that Sora wakes up by doing so and getting those fragments, then we have to risk it."

"But what if that darkness takes hold of you again? We managed to get you back to normal purely by accident last time. We might not be as lucky now." Kairi said in worry.

"I know the risks Kairi, but this time, I promise you I won't let it have me." Riku said. And even though his eyes were closed, Kairi knew full well that if they were open, they would have been looking directly at her own with a gleam of determination.

"A-Alright." Kairi said rather reluctantly. She really wanted Sora back, but the nagging fear of losing Riku in the process and then failing their goal still scared her.

"Good, now I need your help 'cause I have an idea." Riku said and Kairi nodded. "There's no way I can get back up there. It's too much trouble for what it's worth and well, there's also the matter with the amount of darkness it has."

"Then what are you suggesting?" Kairi asked.

"Well, I'm sure that Mickey has no problems attacking it head-on, but it's not going to be enough. I was thinking we could try to immobilize it. You know, stop it from trampling all over the city. We'll use magic to shoot at its legs from afar." Riku said. "If there is one thing I learned from Sora while fighting in this world is that the bigger they are, the harder they fall."

The duo rapidly put their plan into action by moving to the side of the creature and then charging up their respective attacks while aiming at the joints of the Heartless's hind legs. While Kairi realized that long ranged fire spells worked best, Riku attacked using his own blasts of blue fire. After getting enough damage in and using up a grand total of five ethers, the Heartless roared angrily, having had enough of the assault, before lashing out at them with its long tail.

Riku and Kairi both dodged out of the way before Riku used his own partial magical shield to block any of the falling debris which gave Kairi just enough time to charge a reflect spell that covered them both from the second strike. Above them King Mickey had just realized what they were trying to do, and began a rapid flurry of blows to divert the Heartless's attention away from them. To their great relief, he managed it.

"Come on, there's still the other leg." Riku said though Kairi looked at him in worry since his skin had taken a rather pale tone and there was a thin sheet of sweat covering him, not to mention that his voice trembled slightly.

"Alright." Kairi said, nodding. Riku was clearly reaching his limits and the faster they finished, the quicker he could rest.

The duo once again began blasting the creature with a barrage of fire and explosions. It roared angrily, of course, but because of King Mickey and his own separate assault to its face, the centaur found itself very preoccupied. Soon enough, Riku and Kairi had managed to cause enough damage for the Heartless to buckle.

Kairi would have celebrated had it not been for the sudden feeling that something had gone wrong.

Rather than tumbling down completely like they had expected, only the Heartless's hindquarters had collapsed, making the creature stop its current attack on the King to turn around and look directly at the two teens below. Letting out a roar, the creature attempted to get up once more, whipping its tail towards them, but rather than following the movement like it should have, the dark links between each connected building of the tail and hind legs seemed to disappear making the structures rain down at them from the sky, often colliding with each other with horrible screeching sounds which at the same time sent a shower of broken glass down upon them.

The girl could only stand frozen as she realized that it was too late. She had nowhere to escape from the building about to crush them, and there was no way she would charge a spell in time.

"Kairi!"

* * *

Sora brought up oblivion to block the deadly talons that slashed at him, the force of the strike sending him flying before he flipped in the middle of the air and pushed off a new solid surface to strike back. The dragon however nonchalantly repelled him by quickly spinning its body and using the force of the spin to send him flying again.

Even if he managed to hit it, a rational part of him told him that the attack wouldn't have harmed the malevolent creature. Sora twisted in the air and propelled himself forward again, this time in an attempt to strike a different area and this time, hopefully find the Heartless's weak point.

'_It has to have one, doesn't it?'_ Sora thought, his heart beating frantically and his strained muscles screaming for rest.

**Is that all you've got to offer?**

The dragon met his strike head on this time, shielding itself with its thick golden helm and then rearing back slightly before opening its mouth to either eat him alive or blast him with a fireball. An eerie orange glow greeted him from the back of its throat leading him to believe it was the latter. But Sora was ready for such an event and had already charged his reflect spell. The crystal barrier enveloped him completely just in time for the fireball to collide against it making it collapse, which sent the crystal fragments of his reflect spell back towards the creature in retaliation. Unfortunately, the Heartless had already closed its mouth and its eyes, making the fragments clatter uselessly against its golden helm.

To make manners even worse, the Heartless had already planned ahead, sending its twin tails towards him now that he was completely vulnerable to attack, the whip like appendages accompanied by the cries of the air as it was cut through by their swift movements. Though Sora dodged the first, the second one caught him right in his middle, eliciting a 'crack' that resonated through the air and sent him flying off before colliding against another glossy surface that instantly seemed to shatter from the sheer force of the hit. Sora couldn't help but cry out as a blinding pain erupted from his side. He doubled over, coughing in an awful fit as he realized he had probably just broken a rib or two from such an attack.

**Give it up, you will never defeat me!**

'_I guess I have no choice.'_ Sora thought to himself as he saw his relentless enemy look down at him with a smug and superior air. "Cure!"

Green light enveloped him and the pain lessened to a minimum, the various scrapes and bruises he had gathered so far also disappearing without a trace. Unfortunately, this forced him to wait until his magic recharged and even though it could heal his injuries, curaga simply couldn't relieve his exhaustion. The only things that came close were Ethers, Mega-Ethers or Elixirs, and he simply didn't have any of those at the moment.

But what really bothered him at the moment was the type of fight he had gotten himself caught in. This was much harder than the previous fights, a lot more taxing as well. This Heartless had both brains and brawn backing it up. Its attacks were not wild, but carefully thought out with various succeeding combinations that suggested a grade of strategy that he hadn't seen before. Besides that, each move was executed with a level of mastery that astounded him and was extremely rare in Heartless. The closest he could match it to was probably Xenahort himself.

This Heartless truly was the manifestation of master form, at least in abilities. But surely even this impressive creature had to have some kind of weakness. It was supposed to be a corrupt form wasn´t it? In the previous cases with Valor and Wisdom, they had each been twisted by darkness to the point they were unrecognizable from their original value. Valor had become a mindless and rash berserker, while Wisdom had become a manipulative and conniving sadist. In that case, what happened to Master?

By being a combination of both, this creature had gotten the best out of each previous form without their weaknesses. But even then, it still had to have _some_ kind of weakness or flaw. How else was he supposed to defeat it? That's why he had to solve the riddle before right? So he would know what he was up against and then figure a way for it to go down with the rest of them. The fight had been pretty one-sided so far, and he was sure that the dragon was more than just aware of it too. After all, it hadn't stopped reminding him of it. He was really starting to wish it could keep its gigantic maw shut.

'_Wait, maybe that's it.'_ Sora thought, the imaginary light-bulb in his head coming to life. 'Maybe the reason I am losing is because that Heartless hasn't stopped taunting me. It's been trying to lure me in and because of that I've been falling right where it wanted me all along. In reality, it's all my fault. Just like with the riddle, I have to calm down and think this through."

**Are you giving up? Is it that you need a rest? How pathetic.**

The Heartless said while roaring laughter seemed to make the air itself quiver. Sora grit his teeth but didn't take the bait.

**It's hopeless to think you will ever get out of here. I am invincible. In fact, I would be doing you a favor by putting you out of your misery.**

_'What an arrogant jerk.'_ Sora thought, scoffing._ 'Wait a minute…'_

Arrogance. Overconfidence. Pride.

That superior and overbearing attitude that looked down on others while holding oneself on a high pedestal. It was present in those with outstanding abilities, veterans, and especially those that often received copious amounts of praise. Heck, sometimes the outstanding abilities, or the experience weren't even necessary. Of course, there were always exceptions, and a bit of confidence wasn't always a bad thing. But of course, things weren't usually good when taken to excessive amounts.

Was this what the darkness had done to Master?

All of the above could describe the Heartless before him. It had so much power that it no longer saw anything as a threat. Could that also be its greatest weakness? As a warrior, Sora knew that such an attitude could easy become your own undoing, even if you were quite confident in your own abilities. One should never underestimate an opponent, since it came at the risk of experiencing quite an unpleasant surprise. Cocky fighters, when experiencing such surprises, only ended up making fatal mistakes. Mistakes like those could easily lose him his heart in a fight with most Heartless.

'_I know it underestimates me, but how can I use that to my advantage?'_ Sora thought as he recalled his previous attempt to strike the Heartless. In this situation there was simply no time or place for errors. _'Wait, why didn't I see it before? Of course it has a weak point!'_

**What will it be Keyblade Wielder?**

The dragon roared mockingly again, but this time Sora was ready to strike. Thankfully the dragon's overconfidence and its decision to not finish him off quickly allowed him to recharge his magic for this occasion.

"I'm kicking you off that high horse of yours, of course." Sora said with a smirk that seemed to anger the being infront of him.

**What did you say? You think you stand a ghost of a chance?**

The roaring tone was dangerous this time, but Sora didn't falter. The creature's strategy had turned on it.

"You heard me." Sora retorted, and with and angry growl, the heartless reared its head back, whiskers twitching in annoyance before diving forward towards him with its mouth open and fangs bared menacingly.

Sora quickly charged his magic into a reflect spell, he didn't need anything too perfect, just something to protect his front from the assault. The dragon, seeing how biting him directly would only cause him some immediate damage, decided to shoot a fireball again which collided against the shield. The same scenario from before repeated itself and the Heartless defended itself from the shards of his barrier. To follow up, it once again whipped its tails towards him, but Sora had foreseen this too so instead of jumping back like he did before, he took the Heartless by surprise and rushed forward until he was sure he could see his own reflection on the dragon's helm. The dragon widened its eyes in alarm, glowing gold iris with snake-like pupils looking at him in shock from a black sclera sea. Sora met the gaze with his own azure eyes, his Keyblade thrusting forward to attack the weak spot.

The dragon roared in angry pain as Sora blinded its left eye with Oblivion. In the middle of its thrashing fit it managed to slam Sora away with a violent shove of its scaly side, which sent the boy flying off before hitting and subsequently shattering another surface. Sora groaned in pain before picking himself up, but thankfully nothing seemed broken this time.

**YOU LITTLE WHELP! YOU SHALL PAY FOR THIS!**

Sora winced at the angry roars that followed, but what bothered him more was the feeling of dread that had settled in his stomach. The dark storm clouds that began to form around the Heartless and over the sky didn't seem to help dismiss his fears.

**I WILL SHOW YOU MY POWER!**

Sora saw the very space around him distort, many of the stars surrounding him, seemingly zooming off, though he wondered if maybe he was the one unknowingly moving instead. Sora was quickly brought out of his thoughts when he saw the Heartless hold up the crystal clenched between its talons, a smoky darkness emanating from it. There was a star floating right in front of the Heartless that towered over it menacingly, the dark sky making its only remaining eye glow eerily in the dark.

'_What's going on?'_ Sora thought as chill went down his spine.

The clouds had started spinning around the dragon like a hurricane, from here he could also see that the darkness from the round crystal was swirling and slowly enveloping the star like a snake.

**BEHOLD MY POWER! FOR IT TRANSCENDS EVEN THE LIMITS OF THE MIND AND BODY!**

The creature's voice bellowed as a menacing roar melded with the crackling thunder. Sora looked down at the very center of the spectacle where the last rays of light were escaping the star as it was enveloped by the flaming darkness before seemingly retreating back into the crystal sphere the Heartless carried. When he finally got a good look at the orb, he couldn't help gasp, icy fear flowing through his veins. Inside the orb he could see the star. Only this time he recognized it for what it really was.

Inside the orb he could see Radiant Garden covered in darkness.

* * *

Roxas woke up with a jolt. It took a while for him to actually recognize where he was, but when he finally did take notice of his surroundings the events from last night seemed to rush back. At least he supposed it was last night, he really couldn't be sure. It was still too dark to tell, meaning it could either be very early in the morning or very late at night.

With a groan Roxas got up, his spine stiff and his neck sore. His muscles protested his every move in revenge for having fallen asleep on a hard wooden chair. To add insult to injury, his entire being felt cold and numb, his body experiencing what he could only compare to the jet lag he once experienced after a sixteen straight hour gummi ship flight to Halloween Town.

"You're awake." A voice called and Roxas nearly jumped. Turning towards the familiar voice, he saw Aerith wringing a wet rag before placing it back over Sora´s head.

"**What time is it? Where are the others?"** Roxas asked groggily with a long yawn. Aerith giggled slightly, he guessed that she found it cute.

"It's still pretty early, though Leon already left to train. Yuffie is patrolling as always. Cloud and Tifa are out by the Ravine as always. Oh, there's some toast and eggs left if you want breakfast. Should I get them?" Aerith asked and Roxas nodded, still rather sleepy. After looking towards the bed and its occupant, he frowned.

With clear dismay Roxas noticed that the brunette was still thrashing. It was weaker now, but that only worried him more since it could very well mean that Sora's usually endless reserve of energy was starting to run dry. He hadn´t stopped since last night, and by the looks of things it wasn't going to stop anytime soon. He knew this because he had been the one that had taken care of him while Aerith and the others took a break. The reason he had fallen asleep on that chair was the result of sheer exhaustion.

'_**I wonder if it's contagious. I haven't been feeling very well either.'**_ Roxas thought to himself, though a more rational part of him told him that was likely because he didn't sleep well last night. 'Those tattoo-like markings are back, even though I know I saw them disappear before. Why are they back? Does it mean that he has gotten worse? If it did, that means he also got better before…'

Roxas ate his breakfast slowly and in relative silence. Afterwards he washed the dishes off in the sink while Aerith took her basket, before heading towards the door in her almost daily routine to go to the market. But as luck would have had it, fate had other plans.

"Aerith! Roxas!" Leon's voice called, as the door slammed open.

Aerith, being closest to the door, dropped her basket in surprise before hurrying to meet Leon. The brunette was panting, gunblade held in a loose grip while there were several cuts and scratches littering his body.

"What happened?" Aerith asked, but Leon just shook his head and moved quickly towards the computer.

"Radiant Garden is under attack." Leon said as he began to type into the computer. "It's the Heartless."

"**Wait, why now? It hasn't been a week since the last attack!"** Roxas asked.

"I don't know why exactly this is happening, but I will make sure to end it." Leon said sternly before the screen lit up. "Tron, are you there?"

"Affirmative." The electronic voice belonging to the program said.

"We are under attack, we need you to proceed with the evacuation, and send out the reserve claymores, understood?" Leon said.

"Of course, I'll get right on it." Tron said before the screen turned black and was filled with rows upon rows of white letters and numbers. To Roxas it looked like gibberish, but he supposed that Tron knew what he was doing.

"Aerith, I need you to head to town and heal the injured. Roxas, I want you to stay here and watch over Sora. Yuffie will come here shortly to help, but I need to get over to Ansem's study to make sure the Heartless don't take over." Leon said and the two nodded.

Aerith quickly rummaged through the drawers and cabinets before taking out a messenger bag filled with what appeared to be potions and the like. Then, much to his surprise, she also pulled out a rather long staff before following Leon towards the open door.

"If anything happens, warn Tron and he will try to contact one of us. Yuffie should be here any second." Leon said and true to his words, there was small 'poof' and the ninja appeared, smoke bomb signaling her arrival. "Good, you're here. Did you contact Cloud and Tifa?"

"Yeah, they were headed to their positions right now." Yuffie said, panting slightly while the older male nodded.

"Alright, Aerith and I are heading off, you will be watching the perimeter and stopping anything that tried to get inside the Borough. If by some reason they do, they will most likely target the house. Roxas, you will be in charge of protecting this place. Under no circumstances are they to get to Sora, understood?" Leon said in a serious tone.

The two teens nodded, and seeing how the message had sunk in, Leon gave them one final nod before disappearing through the door with Aerith. Yuffie stood there for a moment, her hand clutching her large shuriken so hard that her knuckles were white. Roxas just watched her in silence before looking up at the sky.

"I don't like the look of those clouds." Yuffie said, before disappearing in another cloud of smoke.

It was odd to hear the sound of her voice without that usual cheer. Roxas would have rather heard her joke or laugh like she usually did, but he knew that this was hardly the time for it. Looking up into the sky he saw the black clouds floating ominously above. The way they seemed to be moving in a spiral didn't do anything to quell his unease.

"**I don't like them either."** Roxas muttered silently, frowning as he saw the entire sky darken.

A storm was coming and they had been caught dead in the middle of it.

From the distance he heard the sound of clashing steel and gunshots ringing in the air. The battle had already begun elsewhere. Roxas just looked over the stone walls of the Borough, preparing for the dark shadows that would surely appear. Taking a long deep breath Roxas calmed his tensed muscles and prepared himself mentally for what would come. He definitely didn't have a good feeling about this.

Turning back to look at a feverish and still-thrashing Sora inside, Roxas made up his resolve. He wouldn't let anything happen to Sora for as long as he was around.

There was a shout of warning and Roxas looked up to see the first of the shadows appear; Shadows and Neoshadows. While the Shadows were quite common, it was the Neoshadows that elicited some concern. There weren't all that common in Radiant Garden, usually it was more common to see Soldiers or other emblem type Heartless. What bothered him the most was just how fast they managed to sneak past Yuffie. Either they were very strong, which he doubted because of what they were dealing with, or they were simply far too many for the ninja to keep watch over.

'_**In any case, it looks like we are off to a bad start.'**_ Roxas thought with a frown.

The first of the Shadows rose into the air only to be intercepted by a claymore, the same happened to the second, third, and fourth. The fifth managed to slip through, but Roxas was already on it. Summoning Oathkeeper and Oblivion in a quick display, Roxas cleaved neatly through the Shadow, making only black smoke disperse into the air.

'_**This is going to be a long day.'**_ Roxas thought grimly.

* * *

"Kairi!" Riku shouted as he opened his discolored eyes to look, at where the falling buildings would surely crush the girl.

Riku felt the shift begin, but this time he just threw caution to the wind and ran towards Kairi. There was no time to think, the only thing he could do was act. Even the pain the transformation brought him was forgotten in favor of saving Kairi.

He knew it had to be done.

Black flames manifested around him signifying that the change was on full shift. He felt his hair elongate and stand up in places, and felt himself stand taller, his now longer legs giving him a speed advantage because of his now longer strides. Even if it was minimal, he appreciated any advantage he could get.

His call at least managed to get Kairi's attention, the girl staring at him with wide eyes. Legs frozen in place as she realized that she would not be able to escape. Seconds felt like hours as Riku poured as much energy into his legs to run faster. The buildings were nearly upon them by the time he reached Kairi, and embraced her, his own back shielding her from harm. He felt a small tingle run down his spine, the same feeling that always accompanied when that Heartless appeared looming over his back. This time however, the leg-less creature had its arms spread like a mime pretending to form a mirror, only this time, it really did make a barrier.

Riku grit his teeth as the buildings fell all around them, the screeching cacophony of sounds making his now slightly pointed ears ring painfully. It felt like an eternity for the sounds to die down, but when they did, he finally allowed himself to let out a sigh of relief. Underneath him, he felt a tense Kairi relax.

"Are we alive?" Kairi asked, her voice trembling a bit as Riku let her go.

"I sure hope so. I had a much less disappointing vision of the afterlife." Riku said, thankful that at least his voice hadn't changed. Kairi gave a small laugh, as if appreciating his attempt to lighten the mood. Since Sora wasn't here, that task had fallen onto him. Riku stood up and thankfully, there was a sliver of light that illuminated them slightly through a small crevice between to fallen buildings.

"Riku…I'm sorry." Kairi said, finally getting a good look at him.

The teen at heart just shook his head. "It was necessary. We wouldn't be alive otherwise, and we're still not out of danger, so we should get out of here as fast as we can before the Heartless tramples on us or something. Thankfully, we weren't buried completely."

The pair squeezed through an opening, making sure to be careful and avoid accidentally making the buildings collapse over them. Riku accidentally hit himself in the head, his body just not used to his new height. Kairi giggled quietly but then apologized. Riku was just glad she appeared to be taking it relatively well.

When they finally came out of the labyrinth of fallen buildings, they came to a surprising discovery.

"Why is it still moving? I thought we stopped it." Kairi said frowning.

Rather than lying immobilized like they assumed it would be after taking out its hind legs, the Heartless had simply let go of parts that were previously holding it down. It rearranged the structure of its front legs in to a more humanoid shape before continuing with its now bipedal rampage. King Mickey had yet to stop his assault on the Heartless that now waved his arms around like a person swatting away a particularly fierce mosquito.

Riku and Kairi looked in with surprise and a bit of awe as they saw the King taking on such a giant by himself. After a few second however, they shook their heads and rushed in to help. They both proceeded with the same strategy as before, if only to allow Mickey a chance to deal a critical strike. Kairi's spell soared into the air along with his own enhanced ball of fire, striking the creature's leg and making it stumble. King Mickey saw this and a look of surprise and then relief flitted through his face as he saw the pair safe on the ground. He quickly used this opportunity to slash at the creature's chest.

Riku understood the logic. If it could regenerate it's 'eyes' and remove the parts that slowed it down, then the only real way to stop it was to deal damage directly to its core, in other words, its chest. If it happened to be like those heartless that were drawn to possess objects, they could force it to leave its 'shell' and then attack it when it was most vulnerable.

"Kairi, come on we have to distract it." Riku said as they proceeded to hit the back of the creature's legs to stop it from swatting the king away like a fly. Thankfully it appeared that in his form his attacks were much stronger than before. Unfortunately, he knew he shouldn't abuse it or risk getting permanently stuck like this.

Mickey continued to deliver blows but it seemed they just weren't deep enough to cause actual damage. Riku cursed silently as he saw this. He couldn't get up there to help, and using magic from this distance could easily end up hitting his comrade, which meant that his only option was to send the giant Heartless tumbling down. In other words, just keep aiming at the legs.

"Riku it's not working!" Kairi said.

Sure it had distracted the Heartless, but upon a closer inspection, the damage to its legs was healing, just like it happened with its face. Tendrils of darkness would just join the fallen parts once more as of nothing had happened. Their efforts had proven to be meaningless. The creature regenerated faster than they could damage it.

'_What else can we do? Stop it from attacking Mickey? Then what is he supposed to do? He can't take this thing down!'_ Riku thought to himself, his mind doing flips as he thought of every single possibility. It was because of this that he didn´t notice the giant Heartless bring its foot down in his direction until it was too late.

"Riku! Get out of there!" Kairi cried out, just barely seeing him right below the spot the Heartless aimed for.

He could only be thankful that his dark guardian had reacted in time to stop him getting turned into mush. Unfortunately this meant that he was now pinned under the Heartless's massive foot with no way of getting out. If he even tried to dismiss the guardian, he would undoubtedly be crushed before he was able to move. Yet if he didn't do something soon, he would be crushed either way since he couldn't keep the shield up for very long.

Kairi tried to shoot fire spells at the creature's leg to make it retract it, giving her friend the chance to escape. Mickey too began a barrage of attacks on its face to get it to turn away from Riku. This however, did not work. The creature was apparently either smarter than it seemed, or at the very least more vicious, so it continued to ignore Kairi's blows opting instead to press harder on Riku's shield in an attempt to permanently destroy one of the annoyances.

Riku grit his teeth, panting as he strengthened his shield which was currently trying to collapse on itself from all the weight. The way he saw it, if the others didn't find a way to just about blast the creature off of him, then there was little hope left. It was clearly set on taking him out.

Riku let out a small gasp as the pressure increased, forcing the air right out of his lungs, mind already starting to feel faint from the lack of precious oxygen. His guardian before him was already starting to look see-through, darkness emanating slowly from it like a weak mist. Just before his vision was completely engulfed from the darkness that flooded its edges, he looked to the side in time to see a streak of red light.

'_What the?'_ Riku thought, or something along those lines. His brain could hardly formulate an intelligent question in his state. All his mind knew was that the light wasn't normal, and that the light was some kind of sign.

The guardian faltered one more, its Heartless-like body beginning to disappear in black smoke which only served to obscure his fading view further. At this point his own hearing had gone deaf at the sound of screeching metal. Ever so slowly, he felt the last of his consciousness leave him, the last strength to hold up his shield leaving with it.

And then suddenly, he was blind.

His body felt like it had crashed into the ground, gravity pulling on him while he experienced the unnerving sensation of a vertical fall. Just like that the pressure on his body disappeared, his lungs suddenly filling with the 'oh so precious' air that his body yearned for. At that moment, Riku couldn't imagine a more wonderful feeling. He briefly wondered if this was what his very first breath was like.

The ground trembled beneath him. With oxygen now fueling his brain his senses were now back with vengeance. He suddenly became aware of the deafening 'booms' above, each excruciatingly loud and highlighted by what could only be described as an ear shattering roar of pain. Riku tried to shut out the sound and narrowed his eyes, squinting through the bright light. It felt like looking directly at a sun, but after blinking several times, he came to realize that it was just the light from the buildings and the eerie Heart-shaped moon above, now highlighted by the lack of the giant's foot blocking his view. To his surprise he saw clouds of smoke suddenly cross his vision.

"Riku, are you okay?" Kairi's voice pounded on his ears. Riku just nodded mutely while reaching towards his head with his hand as an automatic response to a newly developed migraine. He was faintly aware that the redhead was insistently pulling on his arm to lead him out of the small crater. All the while explosion reverberated through the air like reminders of what would happen to them if they didn´t move.

Riku followed close by, his heart beating rapidly in his chest, his body slowly recovering from the effects of nearly suffocating. Looking up into the battle above, he was surprised see that the Heartless was currently missing an arm. Its remaining arm was being used to swat angrily at the sky. Even more surprising was the large wound in the creature's chest, the metal plaque that used to cover it, had turned into nothing more than scrap metal and shrapnel.

And there, doing nearly impossible twists and turns in midair was none other than Cid's ship, the Shera.

"No way…he actually made it?" Riku said in surprise. Kairi laughed.

"That's Cid for you." Kairi said. "Now, let's get out of here before we get crushed."

The pair moved to a much safer spot to watch the aerial battle above. Suddenly, victory over the Heartless didn't sound all that improbable.

Cid rained down hellfire onto the creature, forcing Mickey to get out of the way and jump down onto the roof of a half-destroyed building. The group could only watch in fascination as the Heartless swung one arm in an attempt to catch the ship but instead, it was surprised to see Cid dodge out of the way with a barrel roll, before tearing its other arm off with a well placed blast from one of the ship's missiles.

With another heavy fire from the ship's artillery, the Heartless was thrown off balance. With another explosion to its legs, the giant was sent tumbling down before crashing painfully on the concrete streets below.

Riku had to brace himself as the ground shook, hands covering his currently golden hued eyes to avoid getting any of the dust from the cloud that picked up inside of them. Once it settled, Riku opened his eyes to see the Heartless laying motionlessly on the ground, large spider-cracks on the shattered concrete around, spread in such a way that it would have looked rather artistic had it not been for the chaotic destruction around.

"Riku, Kairi, we've got to finish it off now!" Mickey said, Cid having left it in their hands now that the playing field had been evened, and quite literally too.

The pair nodded, knowing that though it was on the ground and helpless, the Heartless had not been properly defeated yet since it had not disappeared in a typical cloud of black smoke. In other words, their battle was not yet over. It was their time to strike, before the creature could somehow recover.

It was now or never.

The three Keyblade wielders charged in, Keyblades held ready for a combined attack. Kairi dashed forth delivering the first strike, her hit shattering whatever armor the creature had left. Mickey charged afterwards, his own strike piercing through the Heartless while making a heavy dose of black mist come forth 'bleeding' from the wound. And finally, Riku rushed forward, Way to the Dawn held over his head before bringing it down with great force, even greater now that the darkness enhanced his power, and delivered the final blow.

Darkness poured forth from the Heartless as it gave one final cry before finally dispersing into black smoke. Yet between the darkness the trio caught sight of the faintest ray of light that, although small, broke through the darkness like a lit candle.

"The fragment." Riku said, urging Kairi forward before it disappeared. Kairi took the hint and quickly approached, charm already fished from out of her pocket and held before her.

_Sora! It's really you!_

_Kairi, you were great!_

_This is real..._

_I never thought for a second that I'd ever see YOU again_

_Kairi, what did you just say?_

_Here, you'll understand_

_Riku... It's Riku. Riku's here..._

_I looked everywhere for you!_

_I didn't want you to find me_

_Then...let's finish it. You're still Riku, no matter what!_

_Why's everybody been calling me Roxas?_

_Because Sora, Roxas is your Nobody_

_My heart is telling me what I must do. Please allow me to do what it says!_

_His heart's decided, we can't change that._

_Riku, you know what to do! King Mickey, my friend, forgive me! Farewell!_

_Heed me, Kingdom Hearts, lend me your power, so that we may be complete! _

_The power to erase the fools that hinder us!_

_Beyond this door is the beginning of the end of your journey, are you prepared for what lies ahead?_

_Get ready, Xemnas! It all ends here!_

_You're right, light and darkness are eternal._

_Nothing probably goes on forever, too, but guess what, Xemnas…_

_That doesn't mean YOU'RE eternal!_

Riku gasped as the intensity of the light literally brought him to his knees. Even with his eyes shut close, the light still seemed to blind him through his lids.

His inner darkness seemed to hiss in disapproval as it was forced back by this powerful force, darkness that by all logic should have been tightly binding him to this form after so much use. Instead, he could feel the shift slowly occur. His limps shortened, and he felt himself inexplicably loosing mass. To an outside watching, it was obvious that his silvery hair lightened in shade as it receded back into his head until reaching its normal length. His skin tone also lightened considerably until reaching his usual fair complexion; an odd tone if one considered that he spent most of his life under a tropical sun. Even so, his clothing had yet to change from the black Organization cloak. He was at least thankful that its size had changed to better fit his body.

"Riku!" Kairi said in surprise as the light fully diminished. King Mickey was at his side at this point too.

Riku turned towards the sound, before opening his eyes experimentally. When he did, he felt the darkness inside him stir once more, making him quickly shut his eyes as a reflex.

"Are you alright?" Mickey asked with concern in his voice.

Riku gave long sigh. "You guys wouldn't happen to have a blind fold would you?"

* * *

Sora launched himself at the Heartless, his gut telling him that whatever it was doing with the crystal ball, it was no simple trick. He knew the moment he felt that malignant darkness envelope the star, that he had to get rid of it quickly or else.

The Heartless swatted him away as if he were nothing more than an annoying fly before coiling its long body around the sphere that still seemed bathed in darkness. Sora managed to flip around in the air right before forming a platform under his feet and dashing away as the heartless fired an attack at him. He tried again to approach once more, but the Heartless once again swatted him away, this time with its tail.

'_Come on!' _Sora thought in frustration as he saw the darkness continue to pour into the orb. He had to do something about it, but nothing seemed to work. The dragon had created a nearly perfect barrier around it to get him away. It obviously meant that the orb was something important to it, maybe even its weak spot. _'But how am I supposed to reach it? How am I supposed to stop that darkness from entering the crystal? The more time I spend thinking about it, the more of it is finding its way into Radiant Garden.'_

Sora honestly had no idea how he knew that. It was just something that his very heart was telling him. His heart was never wrong. That tainted darkness was finding its way towards the town; towards his friends. This Heartless was doing it. Somehow, it was able to send its darkness from this place that was Kingdom-Hearts-knew where, all the way to Radiant Garden, which was strange since he was almost sure that all of this was just taking place inside of him, or his consciousness at least. Was this the Heartless's ability? Was it actually capable of affecting the outside worlds? If that was the case, then this Heartless was easily his hardest opponent until now. He really had no choice but to stop it.

His life wasn't the only thing at stake now.

Sora dashed forward again, his frustration getting the best of him. The dragon just twisted its body, the movements creating a spinning barrier that repelled his attack once again. Even worse was the fact that the creature's sharp black and golden scales seemed to crackle with black electricity before they scratched and tore at him like sandpaper. The wounds were superficial at least, superficial but painful.

'_Better not try that again.'_ Sora thought in pain, at least thankful that his clothing had provided some form of protection. He would definitively have to think this strategy over. _'Any attempt to hit the orb just blows in my face. But… it doesn't matter how. I just have to find a way to stop it.'_

Sora recalled the formation. It was specifically made to protect the crystal. The orb was still in the Heartless's grip while basically surrounded by coils of its own body, its head raised high in the lookout for any threat, while still delivering long ranged attacks by shooting fireballs at him.

'_Wait, maybe I don't necessarily have to hit the orb. If I damage anywhere else it could still interrupt the attack, right? I'm still damaging the Heartless, anyways.'_ Sora realized before quickly hatching up a plan. He would have to be quick.

Sora dashed at the Heartless once more, and as expected, two twin tails shot out in his direction. Rather than block them, Sora let himself drop right under them before using this moment of confusion to dash towards the coils, slipping right through the gaps between them, and then latched onto one of the spikes on the Heartless's back. The Heartless caught sight of this with its remaining eye, before giving out a loud roar and then twisting again, its body spinning violently while uncoiling just to get him off. Sora just hanged on for his dear life, his knuckles white from the strain of holding on.

Seeing how its prey was clinging stubbornly to it like a tick, the dragon decided to deal with him the way many dealt with such parasites; by burning them. The creature opened its mouth revealing long cruel fangs, before an orange glow emanated from the back of its throat, and a large fireball spewed forth from its maw.

Sora waited for the right moment before jumping away by using the Heatless as his own footstool. The fireball collided with the creature, creating a cloud of smoke that only helped cover his escape. It didn't seem to do anything more than leave a slight scorch mark on the scales, but that was alright, Sora was fully expecting that.

The Heartless searched around for the Keyblade Master with its only golden eye, but to no avail. Instead of pursuing the search, it wrapped itself around the sphere so tightly that it would be impossible for Sora to get to it without it knowing so. But that was okay since Sora was fully counting on that as well.

With an angry battle cry Sora leaped forward from where he had hidden right to the creature's left, where it was unable to spot him, but before the Heartless could turn around and do something about it, he had already once again stabbed at the only wound he had been able to inflict.

The Heartless had been so convinced that he would actually still go for the orb, that in creating that near-perfect defense, it had completely forgotten about its newly acquired weakness. It had simply been too proud and overconfident to realize that.

The flow of darkness into the crystal was interrupted immediately as the creature let out a terrible roar of pain that made Sora's ears ring painfully in his skull. Sora brought both hands up to cover them from that unholy, crippling sound, but in doing so he did not realize the attack that was coming until it was too late. The angered Heartless had lashed out with its twin tails, its defensive position around the crystal completely forgotten. Sora was sent flying painfully as the attack managed to both strike him straight in the middle and effectively knocked the wind right out of his lungs, right before slamming him into an invisible wall and actually cracking it.

Sora wheezed as he desperately tried getting air into his system, even though the effort made his ribcage feel like it was on fire. The sheer intensity of the pain was enough for his mind to block everything else, even his vision began to turn into a dark blurry mess as he panted desperately for breath. He knew he was losing consciousness.

Another fresh wave of pain exploded, and this time Sora couldn't help but cry out. His mind was jump-started by the trauma and his vision cleared in time for a shocking revelation. Looking down he saw nothing but gold and black scales grazing roughly at his exposed skin, and long cruel talons enclosing his body.

**You little brat…YOU SHALL PAY FOR THAT!**

The Heartless's foreboding voice rang though his ears as the creature began to slowly, but very painfully, squeeze him, as if trying to savor every bit of pain and desperation that it could get. Sora got the feeling that it was just barely holding back its animalistic impulse to shred him to pieces, knowing that it would get more satisfaction by doing the job slowly.

Sora tried to squirm under the iron grip, but it only did more harm than good. With his arms in this position he couldn't even use Oblivion, not to mention that even if he could use it, there was no way he'd be able to move in his current condition. Not even magic was a viable choice. Just fighting to stay conscious was proving to be difficult.

Sora gritted his teeth as the Heartless looked at him maliciously with its remaining golden eye, but after the creature's grip tightened again and a loud 'crack' followed, he couldn't help but cry out again, even if he felt some warm liquid rise at the back of his throat.

'_No...I can't…not yet.'_ Sora thought frantically, even as he saw the edges of his vision fade to black.

**Ahahaha, now behold and despair!**

Sora was only half-conscious, but even in that state, he could feel his blood run cold as he saw the malignant smirk on the Heartless' maw as it brought up the talon enclosed crystal just close enough for him to see. Darkness began gathering once more, another star being dragged in from the space surrounding it.

The Heartless squeezed one more, forcing him to look into the crystal. What he saw there confused him. Why would the creature show him The World that Never Was? His question however, was answered when a familiar voice pierced through.

"Riku, are you alright?" The voice said.

Sora felt himself freeze. It couldn't be…

"K-Kairi!" Sora rasped out before the pressure on his chest increased and forced him into a coughing fit.

* * *

Roxas panted as he finally took care of all the Heartless. It hadn't been easy, that was for sure. There had been so many Heartless that the claymores were practically rendered useless only five minutes into the attack. Wave after wave of Pureblood Heartless came at him with every intent of shredding him into ribbons. The blonde had honestly wondered just where the heck they all came from.

"I'll go check on the others." Yuffie said, tired and unnerved as she took off running. She was far too tired to think about roof jumping from here.

At some point of the fight, they had been so overwhelmed that Yuffie had been forced back into the Borough, while he had been forced to stand his ground in front of Merlin's place, or risk having the Heartless overrun the place where Sora currently rested. At one point they nearly managed it too, after breaking through one of the windows. But in the end, Roxas eliminated every last one of them. The Heartless thought they could just waltz in to wreak havoc, but he would have none of it.

Still, the attack was worrying.

Neoshadows and Shadows weren't an uncommon sight in some areas of Radiant Garden, particularly in the outskirts. But usually their attacks were a joint effort with some other Emblem Heartless. In fact, during the whole attack he didn't once see an Emblem Heartless. They were all Purebloods, and that was very worrying. Purebloods didn't show up like that unless a world was either very close to the darkness, or being consumed by it. As far as he knew, Radiant Garden didn't fit either description, or at least he really hoped not.

And the attack itself was strange. As fast as it had come, it also quickly ended; simply gone without a trace. There seemed to be no ulterior motive, no great leader that rallied the creatures to attack. It wasn't the Organization for once, and it also wasn't Maleficent. Not even they could make Heartless pour out of the sky like these did. The creatures themselves weren't even going after a very specific target or place, like Ansem's Study, which would make sense since that's where the Heartless Factory was, but this wasn't the case. The Heartless were just all over the place, attacking anything and anyone that they sensed. They swarmed all over him, but that was mostly because they were all attracted to the Keyblade like moths to a flame.

There seemed to be no sort of order, either. It was like they were just sent to go wild and destroy as much as they could get their claws on. For a moment he really thought that this world would suddenly be consumed by the Heartless.

It was all chaos, and yet somehow, for some strange reason that he just couldn't wrap his mind around, the attack had ended. It was simply gone. It just dissipated like the black clouds overhead.

'_**So bizarre.'**_ Roxas said to himself with a shake of his head, before he turned around and headed towards Merlin's House. _**'I'd better report to Tron so he can tell the others.'**_

Roxas was just about to grab hold of the doorknob when a sudden inexplicable feeling of dread filled him and made him stop in his tracks. Something was wrong.

Almost as if on cue, a loud beeping alarm rang out from the inside of the house; the exact alarm that had been hooked to Sora should anything happen. Roxas nearly tore the door off its hinges when he turned the knob and opened the door to see what was happening.

"**Sora!"** Roxas called out in alarm.

The brunette was writhing on the mattress, bed sheets lying forgotten on the floor as Sora desperately lashed out at everything around him. There was sweat pouring down his brow, his brown bangs plastered against his pale skin. But the most worrying part of all was the black wispy mist that seemed to emanate from his arms, legs, and chest, right where his heart should be. On a closer look he noticed the tattoo-like markings on his face were there once more, only larger. Black tribal lines were also spreading down his arms and legs and up his neck as well, darkness emanating from these spots like a sickly miasma.

"**Tron, what's happening?"** Roxas asked, the loud alarm was only making him more nervous as he rushed to Sora's side and attempted to do something before he ended up hurting himself with the many wires that were attached to him.

"He appears to have gone into shock. His heart rate is too high!" Tron's electronic voice replied, worry evident despite his nature as a computer program.

"**What do I do?"** Roxas asked in panic.

"I'll contact the others to get to you. Can you try to cast cure on him? There's a chance that it will help stabilize his vitals." Tron said.

Roxas nodded before concentrating his magic on the brunette.

"**Cure!"** Roxas said as the green light enveloped Sora.

It didn't work.

Roxas gritted his teeth before trying again, and then again, but the results did not change.

"**Come on!"** Roxas cried out in frustration before punching the wall nearest to him and leaving an indent. **"Cure! CURE!"**

Roxas stopped as he heard the sound of the alarm change from various successive 'beeps' to a long eerie drawn out one. On the bed, Sora stopped moving.

"**No."** Roxas said, eyes wide as he realized just what that was supposed to mean. **"No, that can't be it. Sora, come on!"**

The blonde rushed to the brunette's bedside, his transparent arm shaking the teen's shoulder. Still, the teen did not budge. Roxas ran a hand through his blonde spikes, his mind doing flips as it thought about what he could do. Suddenly, it hit him.

'_**I made those markings disappear before. I can do it again. I have to do it.'**_ Roxas thought in resolution as he quickly put a hand over Sora's forehead, ignoring the wisps of darkness and the clammy feeling of his skin.

Almost immediately, he felt himself weaken as his own existence was seemingly sucked away. His own reflexes for self-preservation urged him to remove his hand and thus avoid harm, but he stubbornly continued to pour his energy, his being, his _heart _into the black hole that tried to draw him in. He didn't even care that in doing so his own body had begun to slowly fade.

'_No...I can't…not yet.'_ A weak voice echoed inside of him.

Roxas gasped slightly as he recognized it. _**'Sora? SORA! Answer me, Sora!'**_

When no response reached him, Roxas just gathered more of his own essence before pouring it into the brunette before him, that voice being all the evidence he needed for him to continue. The awful feeling spread over all his body, which made him breathe heavily from the exertion. His legs buckled under him, making him feel like a plant withering in the desert. The feeling of weakness soon turned into that of malaise, and malaise suddenly turned into a constant throbbing pain, unlike any he had ever felt before.

Even then he refused to stop.

For some reason long forgotten memories seemed to pop up. He remembered the first time he had ever encountered the term of death. It was when reports came in about those in Castle Oblivion getting eliminated. He hadn't even really thought about it at all before. Not even after eliminating so many Heartless before. The concept was so foreign that it confused him. To be eliminated; to die, to disappear, to cease to be. Though Nobodies weren't even supposed to 'be' either, so it had only confused him more. All he had known at that point, in his naïve and rather childish innocence, was that he only wanted Axel to be alright. He just wasn't ready for death to take him.

He supposed that hadn't changed at all. He still wasn't ready for death to rear its head and strike. Not with Axel, and definitely not with Sora. The biggest difference between now and then was that this time he really did have an option. As long as he was still around, Sora would be too.

Nobody could change that.

'_**Thanks, everyone.'**_ Roxas thought, even though he knew nobody else could hear him. It didn't matter.

With a last forceful push, Roxas let out a cry of pain as the sheer intensity of it all became too much. Looking down at himself he saw his body begin to fade, beginning with his arms and legs that were now giving away, like dust in the wind, into hundreds, maybe even thousands, of tiny bits of small blue light. Each one seemed to fly in its own intricate pattern and style, but the one thing they all had in common, besides their origin and color, was that they were all headed towards Sora like a parade of fireflies, their silent procession only interrupted by the switching tunes of the machine close by that now gave constant steady 'beeps'.

'_**I'm glad.'**_ Roxas thought. The pain had stopped, leaving him tired, yet oddly at peace. He would be with Sora once again.

Letting out a small smile, Roxas's body glowed brightly for one last moment before it scattered into thousands of those lights, comparable to the very stars in the sky. All of them twirled through the air one last time before joining their siblings inside the brunette that needed them so desperately.

* * *

The group met with Cid right after catching the stray fragment. Riku ended up tearing a small part of the Organization cloak to use as a blind fold since it was much easier than keeping his eyes closed all the time. Thankfully, Goofy and Donald were already there, the duck having just woken up. He was actually squawking out angrily. Kairi had the impression it had to do with the last rescue. If Cid did hear or understand what Donald was saying, he sure didn't show it. He seemed perfectly content to be lost in his thoughts as he enjoyed what appeared to be a post-kill cigarette. Kairi supposed that she should reprimand him for breaking back into that bad habit of his, but the man had just saved their lives, so she supposed she could let it slip this one time.

Cid asked about what happened, being especially curious about the cloak and the blindfold that Riku currently wore. He couldn't blame him for being suspicious; the Organization had attacked Radiant Garden before. Thankfully it was King Mickey who explained everything. At least Riku was back to his regular form since he wasn't sure how Cid would react if he saw him looking just like Xenahort's Heartless.

"So are you fellas done with your errand, or what?" Cid said.

"That Heartless that you took down had the last fragment that this world had. It was quite a large one at that." Kairi said as she showed the man her charm. Four out of the five shells were glowing brightly. They were almost there.

Cid scratched the stubble on his chin slightly before putting out his cigarette and heading back towards the ship. "Guess we should get our butts moving then. We're running out of time."

"What do you mean?" Riku asked.

"I got some news from Leon before gettin' here. He said that Sora's been getting worse."

"What?" The group all chorused.

"He's been getting one of them fits again." Cid said. "I also got a message from Tron. Things aren't looking very good. Radiant Garden got attacked by Heartless again. It's all very strange in my opinion."

"Should we head over there and help?" Goofy asked but Mickey just shook his head.

"We can't afford to make a detour the way things are going, and besides, I know Leon and the gang can handle themselves just fine." Mickey said.

"He's right. You just leave things to them." Cid said. "You can go and help all you want _after_ you find those darn fragments."

Kairi nodded. They were right about that. There was no point of wasting time to visit Radiant Garden if they were still under a time limit. The HBRC could do just fine without them.

'_**Kairi, do you feel that?'**_ Naminé suddenly called, effectively snapping her out of her thoughts.

'_What is it?'_ Kairi asked as she stopped and tried to feel whatever the blonde was talking about. After a few seconds she felt it too, like a shiver going down her spine. Her eyes quickly travelled towards Riku who was looking up at the sky even though he still wore that blindfold. It appeared that he could feel it too.

"Erm guys, I really think we should get inside the ship. NOW." Riku said as he looked up.

Kairi gasped slightly as a feeling of dread overcame her. It was as if an entire dam had broken down, and she was standing downriver of it.

"What is it?"Goofy asked. Kairi wasn't surprised that they couldn't feel it. She only could because she was one of the Princesses of the Heart. Riku probably only heard it because he was sensitive to darkness.

"He's right, we have to go." Kairi said in a hurry as she began to hear the ground beneath her feet shake.

"The Heartless are coming!" Donald squawked; one feathered finger pointing towards the buildings in the distance. They were all quickly being covered by an amorphous mass of black dotted by hundreds, maybe even thousands of yellow glowing spots.

Without a second to waste, the group rushed over to the Shera, the ship dwarfed by the torrent of Heartless rushing towards them at great speeds like an avalanche.

"Gawrsh, where did they all come from?" Goofy asked as he looked at the advancing mass.

"Why don't you stick around and ask them?" Donald squawked sarcastically before kicking Goofy through the entrance of the ship.

"Cid, get us out of here now!" Riku said, his head turned towards the avalanche of Heartless approaching, before he closed the hatch. Though Kairi wasn't sure if he could see them, she was more than positive that he could hear, feel, and even smell them. Their presence was just that strong.

"Just a minute, I can't take off without the engines turnin' on properly!" The blonde pilot shouted as he began flicking various switches.

"They are almost here!" Kairi said as she saw the large wave outside.

"Donald!" King Mickey called out.

"I'm on it Your Majesty!" The Duck responded before raising his staff in front of him. A white light emanated from it before shooting out of his staff towards the spot between the ship and the incoming wave. It was there that it seemed to spread out before solidifying into a transparent reflect barrier, unlike the barriers that she had seen Sora create, this one didn't just disappear after being broken through. Still, it seemed like Donald couldn't hold it on for long.

"No way, they're forming a monkey pile over it!" Kairi said in shock. The Heartless were literally forming a pile in order to completely smother them, with or without the barrier. Glancing at Donald, Kairi saw that the duck wouldn't be able to hold out for any longer either. He was still tired and had only just recently regained consciousness.

"Alright, everyone hold on tight!" The pilot said, giving no further warning as he took hold of a lever and pulled it towards him.

In an instant the entire ship shot forward making just about everyone but Riku, Mickey, and the pilot fall right on their backs, in Donald's case, getting knocked over like that was more than enough to make him lose his concentration and end the spell.

The Shera just barely made it out from under the wave like an extremely lucky surfer from a tidal wave; a tidal wave with claws, teeth, and a hunger for hearts. Even so, the ride was not smooth at all.

There was a series of horrible screeches coming from right outside the ship, like the sound of nails on a chalkboard. Hearing this, Kairi realized that somehow, several Heartless had stowed away and were now crawling all over the hull.

"Donald, do you think you can get them?" Kairi asked the duck who sat on the floor, dizzy and panting heavily.

But before the duck could even reply, Cid had already taken the initiative to take care of the pests. Cursing loudly, the blonde spun the steering wheel around, making the whole ship flip over in the air before flying upright once more. Kairi could hear the Heartess's claws pathetically trying to hold on to the ship before being knocked off the ship by Cid's maneuvers, some of them actually hitting other parts of the ship painfully on their way out. One particularly unlucky Heartless ended up smacked straight into the windshield, before Cid cursed under his breath and peeled it off by turning on the windshield wipers.

"Darn gremlins messin' up the screen…" Cid grumbled before adding a bit of washer fluid to the mix. "Now hang on to your britches folks, this won't be a smooth flight."

Kairi and the rest of the ship's current unwilling passengers held on for dear life as the Shera shot through the sky like a comet, only comets did not swerve dangerously to the side, turning left and right in sharp turns, moreover, they definitely were incapable of doing barrel rolls.

Outside of the ship, they could see long black arms reaching out to them from the eye of the black storm. Cid quickly began an evasive maneuver to dodge the darkness while everyone grabbed hold of the closest thing they could get their hands on. There was a horrible sound of metal being torn apart before the ship shook violently in the air. Cid cursed loudly before spinning the ship around just in time to let loose a barrage of shots that made the black hands recoil with an inhuman screech.

With a final turn and an extra burst of speed, the blonde pilot quickly put some distance between the ship and the darkness. Soon, the Shera penetrated through the thick black clouds that covered the world below them, leaving the neon-lit city of the World that Never Was hidden behind the dark veil.

"Is everyone alive back there?" Cid's voice called from the cockpit. Several groans answered him as everyone began to pick themselves up from the floor.

"Did we make it?" Goofy asked, before yelping as he was pushed off from where he had fallen on top of Donald.

"It looks like it." Kairi said as she rubbed the side of her head where she had hit it during all the confusion.

"Looks like the engine of the right wing got busted up slightly." Cid said as he flicked a few switches to assess the damage.

"Is it okay then, to fly like this?" Riku asked.

"Well normally with this kind of damage, I'd land on the closest world I can to repair it. There's the risk that the engine might give out at any minute. But in this case we don't have much of a choice, now do we? There's no time for repairs, we'll just have to wing it." The blonde pilot said as he ran a hand through his hair. "So you'll just have to make up your mind quick on what our next world will be."

Kairi looked at Riku, and as if sensing her stare, Riku turned to look in her direction before giving a nod. Kairi then took a small breath and spoke.

"We already know where to go." The red head said. "The last world is Destiny Islands."

* * *

"K-Kairi!"

Sora coughed, feeling as if he were expelling the very last bits of life that he had left. Was this truly the end? To have him fall in battle, completely overpowered by this massive monster while it showed him the end of his own friends? All because he was unable to do anything about his own weakness?

The only sound that reached his slowly drifting consciousness was the mocking laugher of the golden dragon that held him quite literally in its grasp. Even that was quickly becoming a blurred mesh of incoherent sounds as he felt the last of his consciousness abandon him.

The only thing left now was that empty yet oppressive feeling that only continued to grow and spread through his body, taking full control of it in exchange for his own.

He felt like he was suffocating. Holding on tightly to that last bit of air in his lungs even though he knew it eventually wouldn't matter, even though the small voice in his head told him that letting go would give him that sweet escape from all the pain he felt.

'_No…stop.'_ Sora thought, though no words came to his lips. _'Stop it…somebody….anybody…'_

'_**SORA!'**_ A voice called, one the brunette never thought he would hear again.

'_Roxas…?'_ Sora thought tiredly. _'Is this for real…?'_

For a moment he thought that he was just imagining things. His own fading consciousness had made him hallucinate or maybe in fact he really had died and just gone to heaven. He didn't feel any different, at least. If this really was heaven then he was greatly disappointed. He had fully expected it to be this beautiful place where everyone had wings, not some endless abyss of darkness.

It was then that a small functioning part of his mind told him that Roxas wasn't dead, and therefore he couldn't be either.

'_So it's not real then.'_ Sora thought sadly. With Roxas here things would be a lot less lonely.

His thoughts however were quickly interrupted as he saw, or more like felt, a strong light embrace him from all sides, and not like a healing spell either. This was warmer, more than any curaga he had ever experienced. It wasn't really magic. No, it was so much more than that. It was light. And not just any light. It wasn't pure like Kairi's, but it wasn't tainted either; like a friend that you accepted despite all of their faults. But more than just a friend, this light was so similar to his, similar enough to be considered his twin, yet different enough to be unique.

'_Roxas!'_ Sora realized, his mind suddenly breaking through the fog that clouded his senses and making everything so lucidly clear.

At the exact time an intense light emanated from him, temporarily blinding the eye of the dragon that just moments ago had been crushing the life out of him. The dragon roared angrily, its head thrashing sideways as it released Sora from its talons unintentionally and by pure reflex. The darkness that had been steadily flowing into the crystal sphere had disappeared as well.

Sora looked down at his glowing body in amazement as he saw his injuries heal and felt his energy return to him. He was even more surprised when he stretched out both hands and they both flashed before Oathkeeper and Oblivion took their rightful places in them.

The large dragon gave out another angry roar, opening its maw to show him its terrible collection of dagger like teeth. It was then that Sora got an idea. It he wanted it to work, he had to act now.

Sora dashed forward with renewed strength, both keyblades at the ready. As if sensing his approach despite its current state, the dragon sent both tails in his direction, but they were both dodged by the Keyblade Master who simply jumped over them onto the Heartless's scaly back before running along its length to reach the section where it protected the crystal sphere.

The Heartless tried to stop him by shooting fireballs at him, but the fireballs were easily dodged now that the creature had been blinded and Sora simply snuck through the coils. When he finally had it in his sight, he flung Oblivion towards it, seeing at it had the greater chance of damaging it. The moment that keyblade struck, a large crack slowly began to spread over its surface, making the dragon roar and curse angrily as a massive amount of magic began pouring out of the fissure. It was at that moment that he realized just why the Heartless had been so keen on protecting the crystal. It was the creature's source of power, magical power at least. Without it, the creature was restricted to physical, all of them much weaker than before without the booster in place.

**YOU!**

The creature growled, bearing its fangs at him, but no fireballs were blasted at him. It was just as he suspected; no orb, no magic. It looked like he might just even stand a chance. If only he could find a way to bypass the armor and deliver a fatal blow.

'_Wait, I think I have an idea.'_ Sora thought as he moved away from a claw swipe and mentally played out his plan. _'I'll have to be fast, and my timing has to be perfect. But…that's the only way I can see of beating this thing. It won't likely fall for the eye trick again. Right, Roxas?'_

Nobody answered him, but even then, just the comfort of his friend's presence that wrapped him like a blanket was enough for him.

'_Alright, let's end this!'_ Sora thought before letting out a battle cry and charging at his enemy.

Sora ran up the dragon's back, using its own body as a path. The creature would swipe at him with its sharp talons or swing both tails at him in a whip like manner, but Sora would simply dodge at every turn and dash back every time he was thrown off.

All he needed now was a chance.

"Is that all you've got?" Sora called out as he sneaked behind the Heartless before reappearing once more on its blind spot.

Realizing what was about to occur, the Heartless quickly turned its head in his direction, its glowing slitted eye filled with malice and raw killing intent. It reared its head back before opening its mouth, long fangs dripping with saliva and its snake-like tongue extended as if tasting him already.

Then, with lightning fast moves, the Heartless struck. Jaws moved forwards with every intent to tear him apart, but Sora was ready. Seeing his chance, the brunette dashed forwards past fangs as long as he was tall. Its long tongue moved forwards to push him back towards the teeth or otherwise try to swallow him whole, but Sora slashed at it with Oathkeeper, eliciting a loud roar that was almost ear-drum shattering from where he currently stood. The only thing worse was the awful rotting smell all around him, though he was immensely grateful that it could no longer breathe fire at him. The Heartless opened its mouth wide and made a move to shake its head to expel him, but Sora decided that enough was enough.

Sora dismissed Oathkeeper and after gathering every bit of strength he could muster, he let out a loud cry and drove Oblivion upwards into the roof of the creature's mouth. A roar of pain, unlike any of the ones before, assaulted his ears, urging him to cover them. Sora gritted his teeth and held on to the deeply imbedded Oblivion, knowing that losing his grip would send him flying out of the dragon's mouth and then possibly to his untimely death.

'_Wait it's…falling?'_ Sora realized before holding even tighter to brace himself for the incoming impact. With its jaw closed like it was now and with it in freefall, it would be impossible for him to get out.

There was a loud slam as the body below him collided with solid ground. Even Sora was sent flying a few feet after losing his grip, though thankfully he landed on something soft. The same could not be said for the Heartless.

Sora snuck out of the immobile creature's mouth through an opening where a fang was missing. When he reached the outside, he realized that the stars in the sky were gone and that below him was a golden and black stained-glass platform, not unlike the one he had seen on his way in. Right in the middle of it was a door, just like the one from before.

**You cannot hope to win.**

Sora nearly jumped when he heard the voice again. Turning around with both Keyblades at the ready, he saw the Heartless lying on the ground facing him. For once it was missing several scales from the fall and it was clear to him that it wouldn't be much longer until it disappeared. A glazed golden snake-like pupil within a black sclera looked at him evenly and unblinking.

"I defeated you didn't I?" Sora replied.

**You will not be able to pull another miracle like before.**

Sora was surprised this time. Gone was the mocking tone of arrogance that the Heartless had used since the start of their battle. This time it was simply speaking as if it were just stating the facts.

"I have no choice. I gotta keep going." Sora said.

**Will you fight, even if you knew that your next battle will be the hardest yet?**

"I won't turn back. I'm almost there!" Sora said. The Heartless just gave a weak chuckle as black flames began to spread over its frame, letting out several plumes of darkness as it began to vanish.

**Your next battle will be your last…**

Sora walked toward the door, ignoring the faint chuckling echoes that remained even after the Heartless disappeared completely.

"That's right. The next fight, I will make it my last." Sora muttered to himself as he took a long deep breath and grasped both handles.

With a small 'click' the doors were opened and Sora followed into the darkness beyond.

"After this, it will all be over, for better or for worse."

* * *

**Crystal : "For worse, lol."**

**Canis: "Shh, don't spoil it."**

**Crystal: "How can I spoil it if I don't know what's gonna happen next? I am just assuming since you just love that phrase; 'If something bad can happen, then it probably will'."**

**Canis: "…I see"**

**Crystal: "You aren't going to drop a planet on them, are you?"**

**Canis: *looks thoughtful* "That's actually not a bad idea."**

**Crystal: "Great I doomed them. If the readers ask, I didn't give you the idea."**

**Canis: *chuckles evilly* "It's already too late."**

**Crystal: *sighs* "So…reviews anyone?"**

**Canis: "My pet hedgehog commands you! Now Thor, use Rollout and then follow up with a homing attack! Muahahahaha!"**

**Crystal: *watches from side* "Cool."**


	18. Reflections

**Chapter 18: Reflections**

**First of all, happy 2012! I apologize for the long wait. This chapter was done a while ago, but due to circumstances above Crystal and I, it just couldn´t be uploaded until today. To put it simply, university is my biggest priority at the moment. I should be enjoying my summer break right now like everyone else, but again, due to circumstances above me, I´m still stuck with going to class despite the summer heat while trying to cram 5 months worth of information directly into my brain.**

**Worst. Summer. EVER.**

**On the plus side, it looks like this fic is finally coming to an end soon. At least, that´s my new year´s resolution this year.**

**As always, KH doesn´t belong to me.**

**Thanks for everyone who has stuck with me for so long, and also those of you who have reviewed or added this story to their lists. You guys are awesome :)**

**Now onwards with the show.**

* * *

Leon found himself running through the deserted streets of Radiant Garden. Debris was scattered everywhere while the few banners and construction signs that they had put up were all torn and shredded to pieces from the attack. He felt a pang of anger at knowing that all their work had gone to waste, but he ignored it, deciding to keep a calm and steady mind. He had much more important things to worry about than a messy aftermath to a Heartless raid. No, his biggest worry right now was the brunette currently bedridden at Merlin's place and his former Nobody that was there defending him. Or at the at least he _should've_ been there defending him.

Tron had sent him an urgent message while he checked on the Heartless Factory at Ansem's Study. Instantly he got that sinking feeling in his stomach that told him that something was wrong. His fears were only confirmed when he finally made it to the Borough and realized that the whole place was completely and utterly silent. For a moment he remembered how everything was when they returned to Hollow Bastion. The once lively town had been reduced to a ghost town; a shadow of its former self.

He had felt panic rise within him at that moment, many wouldn't have believed that the great and stoic Leon would ever react that way, but he'd be lying if he said he was beyond those emotions. He had run into the house, nearly bringing down the thick wooden door on the way in. To his relief, aside from a shattered window, Sora was alright. According to the computers, his vitals were just fine too.

Yet Roxas was nowhere to be seen.

That just wasn't right. In days that he had gotten to know the blonde, it became clear that Roxas wouldn't just go and abandon Sora, it just wasn't like him. There weren't any Heartless there at all, so if there was a fight going on, he was sure he would have heard it. Besides, all the Heartless were gone, many of them having left not that long ago just out of the blue. It was far too suspicious.

"Yuffie!" Leon called as he headed towards town in hopes of finding the ninja there.

There was the telltale 'poof' right as a cloud of white smoke appeared next to him, bringing with it the ninja he was looking for. Yuffie stumbled out slightly, various scrapes and bruises showing on her exposed skin, while she panted slightly for breath. Thankfully, none of her injuries were deep, but the fact that _Yuffie_ was panting slightly spoke of just how intense the battle had been for her. Though definitely not the strongest, she was the best combination of speed and agility that Radiant Garden had to offer, taking down her opponents quickly before they even registered what happened.

"Leon!" The girl said. "How is everyone? Is the attack over then? How is Sora?"

The brunette nodded, understanding Yuffie's concern. Most attacks usually took place in the outskirts of town so his presence here, as opposed to the battlefield, would obviously hint at the end of the attack.

"Sora is alright for now, but we have a bigger concern now. Have you seen Roxas?" Leon asked.

"Roxas?" Yuffie wondered out loud. "The last I saw him, he was fighting in the Borough. What, did something happen?"

"Yuffie, I want you to go look for him around town, report to Aerith while you are at it, too. I'll head over to Merlin's to look for clues. Maybe Tron managed to get a recording of what happened." Leon said before heading back from where he came. Yuffie gave a nod before disappearing once more.

"Roxas!" Leon called as he ran through the Borough. There was no sign of him earlier, but there was still a chance that he was nearby now.

Nobody answered him, but that did not make him falter. He ran back to Merlin's place, his gunblade resting over his tired shoulder. Once there he quickly made his way to the computer.

"Tron!" Leon called as he left his trusted weapon leaning on the side so that he could use both hands to type. "I need to know if you have any records of what happened here, roughly around the time you reached me."

"I'm afraid that the audio file stopped recording at approximately 5.045 minutes after I left." Tron's computerized voice replied. "Sora's vitals had crashed so I was sent to get help."

"That's just fine. Do you think you could send them over now?" Leon said. It was better than nothing. A bar quickly appeared on the screen that was quickly filled as the files were received. Once the process was done, the brunette quickly opened up the files and paid rapt attention to the secrets they may hold.

The first files contained the sound of glass shattering, which certainly explained what happened to the windows, before it was followed by distinct sound of battle. Though faint, he could also hear a background sound similar to that of the beeping he heard coming from the computers connected to Sora, only more erratic. It was with a sinking feeling that he recognized it as the sound of Sora's vitals crashing.

The clip continued and it took most of his self control to keep his wits about him as he heard the sound of Roxas frantically calling out to Sora as a drawn out beep littered the background. And then at the end, there was nothing. An odd sort of static filled the audio. Either that or it was some sort of unrecognizable sound, unlike any he had heard before. Whatever it was, at that moment, something nearly miraculous had happened; Sora's vitals had returned to normal, which was something that he was sure didn't just happen on a whim.

Leon brought up a hand to rub the bridge of his nose. He could feel a migraine coming on.

Nothing on the sound clip told him what happened to Roxas. In one moment he was there, and in the next he was just gone. What baffled him the most was that there was no indication that Roxas had left at all; no footsteps heading out or anything. At least he now knew for a fact that the blonde hadn't left the room.

Leon glanced at the brunette currently on the bed and then sighed. He only wished that he knew just what happened.

A shift in the air quickly snapped him out of his thoughts. His muscles immediately tensed, his hand flew towards the handle of his gunblade that rested to the side, his stormy gray eyes narrowed as his stance shifted into one more suited for battle. The entire house was bathed in an uncomfortable silence as Leon waited for his foe to appear. His muscles were tired, but if he had to take another enemy down, then so be it.

There was a sudden 'poof' and the entire room was enveloped in white smoke. Leon narrowed his eyes but didn't lower his guard. Yuffie's smoke bombs wouldn't envelope the room like this. Besides, there was no way she finished her errand in such little time. She was fast, there was no doubt about that, but she was still only one person. Moreover… were those bubbles?

Leon saw a figure shift through the smoke, making him quickly move forward and hold his blade to the silhouette's neck. To his surprise, rather than attack him, the figure only began to cough and wave the smoke away.

"Confounded apparitions!" A familiar voice called as he saw a stick being angrily waved in the air. "And what do you think you are doing sonny boy? Attacking the elderly? Put that blasted thing down before you take somebody's eye out."

Leon blinked before putting his gunblade down. "Merlin?"

* * *

Sora warily looked around despite not being able to actually see anything through the thick darkness. Before this whole adventure he always thought that darkness was simply the absence of light; just a spot where the rays of the sun couldn't reach, but it didn't take a genius to realize that this _substance_ was something completely different. It gathered like mist and made his body feel like it was moving through water despite it being completely dry. And just like water, it gave him that awful smothering sensation. It was as if he just couldn't get enough air into his lungs even though he was breathing just fine.

And even worst of all, the darkness felt evil. It was as if just beneath that layer of darkness, all those monsters, all the things that went bump in the night and that he had been scared of as a kid, were all prowling unseen by him, watching and waiting for him to let his guard down so that they could strike.

A sound alerted him from behind, making him whirl around while summoning both Oathkeeper and Oblivion, the door he had just gone through seemed to shimmer out of existence, making him feel relieved that it was not an enemy, but at the same time wary that he had just lost his only visible escape route.

Sora cautiously walked forward, the comforting weight of his weapons just barely helping him move on through the oppressing landscape, or in this case, lack thereof. Surprisingly, the darkness seemed to thin out and retreat as he walked forward, giving him and his keyblades a wide berth, almost as if having a life of its own. In this case, almost like a nocturnal creature hissing and crawling away from the sun.

In most cases that was not too farfetched as Sora could almost see black tendrils slithering away where the darkness seemed to meet the too-dark-to-properly-make-out pattern on the stained glass floor. Or at least he was almost sure it was stained glass, since it looked too dark and heavily tarnished to fully appreciate at some points. And besides, it wasn´t like he was really paying that much attention to it anyways, his mind was mostly preoccupied with the thoughts of what lay ahead_, that_, and making sure that he wasn´t ambushed.

'_I can't be too careful, especially now.'_ Sora thought to himself.

After fighting three super-powered opponents and knowing that he had yet to fight the baddest of them all, it was understandable to be uneasy. He had no idea what to expect. Would it be bigger and more powerful than the dragon? It would make sense since each of the Heartless had been tougher than the last. In that case, if it did follow that obvious pattern, just how would he take it down?

His final battle awaited him. He had reached the point of no return long ago, and now, it would all come down to this. He could either win it all by some masterful combination of skill and luck, or lose and meet his untimely end in this bizarre plane. There was no running away, but even more worrying, there was absolutely no room for mistakes. Any unfortunate slip on his part and it could very well mean it would all be over. But he couldn't afford to fail now, there was just so much at stake.

He was tired.

His injuries had somehow healed from the last battle, but it was another type of fatigue that wore away at him. He was sick of the constant fights, the horrible feeling of falling as the stained glass platforms shattered underneath him to send him off to another more difficult trial, all while the constant threat of death and destruction continuously loomed over him. Maybe if the threat was only directed at him, then it wouldn't be so bad, but a part of him knew that somehow, his friends were in terrible danger as well. This was a lot bigger than he realized at first.

Everything hung by a small thread; one that threatened to snap at any moment.

Sora continued to walk forward, his feet guiding him through the dense darkness. He had no idea where he was going or what exactly awaited him there, but somehow he knew he was on the right path, even if it did seem as if it was leading him downhill. It was as if an invisible force beckoned him down in this unknown direction.

Seconds trickled slowly, only accentuated more by the eerie silence. It was the calm before the storm and the Keyblade Wielder was well aware of it. It was just like how a sunny day could turn into a raging storm back at the islands. Sora instantly recognized the nagging sensation at the back of his neck.

The brunette was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as he realized that he had come to a sudden stop. Whatever force had drawn him here had suddenly vanished, leaving him standing, tensed and ready, right in the middle of nowhere. Tentatively stepping forward his brows furrowed slightly as he realized that the darkness was thinner here. Another step and this time the haze almost seemed to recede, revealing the circular platform he had managed to somehow land himself on. Now that he looked at it, it was almost a miracle that he didn't fall down into the empty pit of darkness below, considering the thin and fragile-looking, tarnished glass steps that led him down here.

But what caught Sora's attention the most was an object standing right in the middle of this platform. It was rectangular and of a soft pink tone. For a moment, Sora almost thought it was another double door, but besides the fact that this one looked like it had seen better days, unless it was missing both doors, then there was no way this was another exit.

Sora squinted slightly, azure eyes holding a bit of apprehension as he approached the object to get a better look. With the now very thin, but still present haze, it was difficult to make out any details from that distance.

_'What is that?_' Sora thought of the strange object and its unusual location.

With another step, he suddenly heard a sound and turned to see the glass steps that brought him here disappear from existence.

_'Looks like my decision has already been made for me.'_ Sora mentally sighed, before warily making his way over to the object.

Sora's eyes widened as he finally got a good look at the strange artifact. What he believed to be a door was actually a tall mirror, its frame being of an identical color and design as the doors of this place, only it looked rather dirty and tarnished. In fact, Sora could hardly make out his own reflection on the scratched surface of the dingy glass.

A look of confusion crossed the brunette's face as he looked around for anything else that might possibly leap at him, but after seeing no signs of danger, he dismissed the Keyblades and let his gaze travel back to the intriguing object in front of him.

'_Maybe it has some sort of riddle or a clue, just like the door.'_ Sora thought as he stared intently at the unkempt glass and its equally unkempt frame, almost as if by staring hard enough, he'd be able to uncover whatever secrets the mirror held.

Sora narrowed his eyes as he thought he saw something on the reflection. If only the glass wasn't as tarnished, he may have been able to get a good look. Maybe if he tried wiping at it, then it would come off. Raising his gloved hand slowly while squinting at the looking-glass, Sora made a move to rub off a particularly large splotch of grime. But before his glove could make contact, a quick movement, a blur almost too fast to see from the reflection caught his attention, making two things happen simultaneously; Sora quickly attempted to retrieve his hand, completely out of reflex, and secondly the mirror exploded outwardly in a shower of broken glass.

The next thing Sora was aware of was the pain. It was superficial, yet stung horribly where the shards of glass had likely grazed his skin, particularly around his right arm…but that wasn't right. The pain there was different. Sora slowly opened his eyes, being thankful that he had closed them just in time; his ears still rang from the sound of glass breaking as he slowly looked up to his crossed arms that shielded him from the brunt of the attack. His blue eyes stopped at his right arm and then widened in shock.

A clawed black hand, dark as obsidian, held him by his wrist, its five digits biting painfully into the skin, drawing blood. Sora numbly recognized the limb, his wide eyes following it back from whence it came. His eyes finally landed on the large hole now present on the mirror, black wisps of darkness oozing outwards from the other side. But even more shocking was the glowing orb of yellow that stared at him from beyond, the other one not visible because of the cracked and stubborn remains of the mirror. All the grimy mirror showed him now was a wide blue eye staring back at him and a silhouette that perfectly matched the one from the other side of the mirror.

"You're-!" Sora began, but suddenly found his words leave him as he gazed at the creature; a dark twisted mockery of his own reflection.

A jagged slit of a mouth opened on its otherwise featureless dark visage, showcasing a toothy cruel smile only fitting for a Heartless.

**Welcome.**

* * *

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Riku asked as he held on to his seat for his dear life. Kairi in the meantime was gripping the armrests of her seat so hard that her knuckles were white.

"This is as fast as she'll go without gettin' torn to pieces." Cid replied, his eyes not moving from the route ahead. That only managed to show just how serious the pilot was.

'_**Cid is right. If we go any faster the ship won't be able to stand it.'**_ Naminé voiced her thoughts inside of the redhead's mind.

'_I know but at the rate we are going…'_ Kairi replied with worry.

They were flying through space at unimaginable speeds; speeds that lesser pilots wouldn't dare handle. Unfortunately, this was not nearly enough. With a busted wing engine, and who knows what other damages to the ship, they were still many knots away from reaching the ideal speed. Considering the message Cid received about the attack on Radiant Garden, Kairi was worried that at this rate, they wouldn't be able to accomplish their goal in time. It would take far too long to get to the islands and then back to Radiant Garden. That is, if they actually managed to get to Destiny Islands at all.

In reality, they were lucky that the ship was still holding out on them after all the destruction it suffered. She was well aware of that. She also knew very well that Cid was doing his best to get them all to their destination in one piece. She didn´t mean to sound ungrateful, she really didn't, but she knew they were all pushed up against a corner at the moment. Somehow, even with all this luck by their side, it looked like they wouldn't make it. Apparently even miracles weren't enough.

They were practically on their last legs. They were all bruised, hungry, and tired, none of them having a good night's rest for a while now, in fact, the last time she recalled actually getting a wink of sleep was before landing in Twilight Town. It seemed like such a long time ago, now that she thought about it.

Maybe the fatigue was catching up to them. Perhaps that had something to do with the sudden hopelessness that invaded her. It seemed like the only thing that kept her going now was the small shred of hope that she had in this mission; hope that was quickly fading.

They were so close now and yet further away than ever. Just when they had gathered four of the five pieces of Sora's light, it was looking more and more like they wouldn't be able to give it back to him in time.

'_**We won't be able to give it to him either if the ship breaks down before that.'**_ Naminé reasoned.

'_I know, but… Sora…you know what I mean right? It's like the more time passes, the less I can feel him. It's like what happened when I was left at the islands. I don't want to forget him again!'_ Kairi urged before gripping her charm inside her of her pocket.

She didn't deny it. The idea of losing Sora was nothing short of terrifying. Riku as well, she just couldn't bear to lose either of them. Ever since they met after that meteor shower, back when she had been whisked away from her own world into a new and strange place, they had become her best friends and her biggest strength during times of hardship. They were the crutches that had made her able to walk again. It had even reached the point where she couldn't even imagine what life would be like without them, only she could because she had lived it for about a year.

Thinking back, even then she always felt a noticeable void in her heart. It had all been so surreal. Like remembering certain events and realizing that so many of them made no sense, only to realize that there were entire chunks of her life missing. After finally recovering her lost memories, she had promised herself that she would never forget. And not just that, but she also swore to herself that she would never get left behind again.

And now, to think that she could relive that experience again…

She was afraid. That was something that she hated to admit. It wasn't like she could hide it from her former Nobody either. Naminé was too attuned to her emotions to not realize it.

She often prided herself with her bravery. After all, it took a lot more than heart-seeking black monsters, or the emotionless husks often left behind to actually scare her. Unlike other girls, Kairi wasn't the type to fear small things like mice or spiders. She supposed that it came from years of trying to catch up to Sora and Riku as the only girl in their little group. It had paid off too. It took guts to remain as composed as she was when she was kidnapped and taken as prisoner by Organization XIII.

Kairi cherished the warmth emanating from the charm as if sensing her distress, but then frowned after a few seconds. It was getting colder as time went on, though its light would flash occasionally as if urging them to continue.

'_I know. I don't want to be left behind either.'_ Kairi thought as she held the charm gently. If someone or something could sympathize with her at the moment, it was probably the collected light fragments that rested quite literally in her hands.

Kairi felt Naminé's presence brush against her mind, as if showing that she was there for her, even though no words were exchanged. Kairi smiled gently. She really did appreciate it. Riku too had been quite adamant on knowing that she was alright after the Heartless's attack and their hurried escape.

Chancing a small glance towards Riku, she could only imagine how hard it must be for him; going through that particularly harsh battle before, with the injuries to show for it, and now going at this speed with a blind fold while having to repress the fear of crashing. Even so, he was still asking to go even faster. He really was putting a lot of trust in them all, even though it didn't come quite easily to him. Riku just wasn't the type to put all his trust in someone he only met just recently. She could tell that it had taken quite some effort on his part.

"It'll get better, you'll see." Riku's voice called out, making her jump slightly. Riku wasn't capable of reading minds, not as far as she was aware. "You've been awfully quiet."

"Oh." Kairi realized. Now that she thought about it, there was no way Riku could even see the gloomy look on her face with that blind fold on. _'But then again, he was still able to aim his attacks without much of a problem.'_

"I know that things may look grim now, but remember that Sora is fighting too. We have to be strong now that he really needs us." Riku said before a small smile tugged at his lips. "Besides, that knuckle head is too stubborn to go down that easily. He won't break his promise either."

Kairi nodded slightly while the silver haired teen's contagious smile spread to her own lips. She was still not completely convinced, but if Sora were in this situation he wouldn't be giving up so easily. He never gave up on either of them, even though his journey had led him down so many treacherous roads. He had even willingly lost his own heart for her. She had asked him once why he had done it. After all, it was not common for someone to willingly stab themselves through the chest. His answer had been accompanied by an honestly confused expression; 'I had to, didn't I?'.

"So you gonna cheer up or what?" Riku asked with humor laced in his tone.

"Only if you leave the motivational talk to Sora." Kairi joked back. "It just sounds weird coming from you."

"Hey you can't say I didn't try. Besides, someone has to keep everyone´s spirits up and it sure isn´t going to be Donald." Riku said with a sly grin. Luckily said duck was out with the rest of the Disney Castle Trio in the ship's hind quarters in search of healing items, otherwise the two teens would have gotten quite an earful from the angry mage.

"Well, that's true." Kairi admitted with a small laugh, but then yelped when a strong force sent her tumbling forward. From the corner of her eyes, she see saw the lights in the room flash red and a loud siren blare throughout the room, as pain blossomed on her knee and temple.

"Kairi are you okay?" She heard Riku's voice call though her vision swam.

"Yeah, I'm okay." The redhead said as she gingerly rubbed the side of her head and got up on unsteady feet.

"You're limping."Riku said, frowning. He probably heard her mismatched steps as she tried to move.

"It's just a scrape, really." Kairi insisted.

Riku obviously wasn't convinced, but with little choice, the silver haired teen just sighed. "We'll treat it as soon as we sort this out. For now, do you think you can walk for a bit?"

Kairi nodded.

Luckily her death grip on the seat reduced her possible injuries to a small scrape on her knee and a small bump on her head; a lot better than they could have been. Moreover, the ship seemed to have slowed down to a near stop, making it safe for them to walk over to where the pilot sat, even with her limp.

"Cid, what's going on?" Mickey's voice rang over the sound of the alarms as the mouse entered the cockpit. If the blonde heard him, he sure didn't show it. His attention was entire focused on the control panel before him.

"Is it the engines? Don't tell me their failing us now!" Kairi asked, the cacophony of the alarms and flashing lights making her head hurt.

"Well good news is that it ain't the engines." Cid replied without even glancing back at them. His fingers moving fast to disable the alarm.

"I suppose there's bad news as well?" Riku asked, his tone sarcastic.

"Yep, it looks like the skies ain't as peaceful as we all thought." The blonde said, moving aside just slightly so that they could all see the moving red dots quickly closing in on them on the radar.

"Heartless ships? I thought we'd seen the last of those!" Riku said, slamming his fist into the metallic wall.

"There aren't as many as before, but that's not our main problem." Mickey said, his tone unusually serious.

"What's the problem?" Kairi asked.

"Well normally I'd just blast'em right out of the sky, no problems, but we ain't in top shape at the moment. With a busted wing I can't win a dog fight. Any more damage and we're toast."

"But this ship, it's equipped with guided missiles, isn't it?" Riku asked.

"I know what you're thinking kid, but it ain't gonna cut it. Those weapons work best with few large enemies, not a swarm of 'em like outside. It'll be like shooting at a swarm of bees. They'll be all over us before you know it." The blonde answered before letting out a string of curses.

"What's wrong?" Mickey asked.

"Looks like we won't be able to escape either. With the engine busted, we're slower than them and they know it. They're blocking out our exits to fence us off." The pilot replied gruffly as he messed around with the ship´s controls.

"So we're basically sitting ducks out here?" Riku asked in disbelief.

"Yep." Cid replied.

"What about the shields?" Kairi asked. She knew that most ships were equipped with shields.

"I'd have used them earlier had they not been busted." The blonde replied. Recalling their escape from The World that Never Was, Kairi turned to look at King Mickey.

As if sensing her question, the King quickly replied. "Magical barriers won't work on these Heartless like they did before, Kairi. These Heartless ships are too strong. Even if the barriers did work, Donald and I are too tired to make one stable enough to last a few seconds."

"So are you saying there's no escape?" Riku asked, running his gloved fingers through his hair with a sigh.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I'm sure there must be some way of getting out of this mess." King Mickey said, furrowing his brow in thought. "We just need to remain calm."

"We can't run, we can't hide, and we certainly can't fight. What _can_ we do?" Riku thought out loud.

"Well that isn't completely true." Cid muttered as he looked at the screen that opened up, showing them all an amplified version of the radar. On it, they could see a large number of dots approaching the ships from all sides, though there was a great deal of static on the screen.

"So you have a plan then." Riku said, sending a blindfolded gaze towards the pilot.

"If by plan you mean a crazy suicidal half-baked idea, then yeah, I got one." The pilot said as he pulled out a cigarette.

"Well, can't you tell us? So far it's all we've got." Kairi asked.

The pilot sighed before lighting up his cigarette from his seat and then taking a long drag. "Fine, but the more I think 'bout it, the less I think we should try it."

"Why's that?" Kairi asked.

"Even if we did manage to pull it off, there's a huge chance it won't even work." Cid said, before taking another drag and then exhaling the smoke. "On the way here there was something disrupting the radar. That's why I couldn't avoid the trap; the signal was being jammed. There are all sorts of things capable of messin' up a signal, but after doing a reading just now, I narrowed it down. Since the signal became significantly larger even from this far, it means we are dealing with a distortion in space."

"You mean a portal is opening." Mickey surmised, before getting a contemplative look. "We could use it to lose the Heartless and get away, but there's no telling where it will take us."

"You're right. It could take us to the other side of the Realm of Light for all we know." Riku said.

"Even then, wouldn't it be better than just handing ourselves over to the Heartless on a silver platter?" Kairi asked.

"There's that too." Riku said.

"It ain't as easy as that. There's a chance the portal's not complete at all. If it's a wormhole it can take us just about anywhere, if it's a black hole…well." Cid said, stopping as if gathering his thoughts.

"Well what?" Riku asked.

"Well, chances are we'll get torn to pieces." Cid said as he took another drag.

Mickey gave a tired sigh before continuing. "Then there's the fact that just by going near one, the ship might get destroyed from the force of the pull."

"That's if we even manage to escape the Heartless." Cid said.

"Well that's a depressing thought." Riku said.

"Yeah, but even then. If there is even the smallest chance of making it out, I think we should take it." Kairi said.

"Sure beats having your heart taken by the Heartless in any case. Besides, we already agreed that there is no way we'll survive if we just stand here twiddling our thumbs." Riku said. "We still have to finish up our mission. We can't just give up in the middle of a job."

"Better decide quickly." Cid muttered as he turned his full attention to the controls before him and the rapidly approaching red dots on the static-filled radar.

"I agree." Mickey said solemnly. "If we make it out alive, we can see where we go from there. A small chance is better than no chance at all. If we don't make it…well we can honestly say we at least tried."

"So, all in favor?" Cid asked, fingers tapping impatiently at the panel that controlled the Shera's guided missiles. The three Keyblade warriors exchanged a look before giving a definite nod. Cid just took a long last drag of his cigarette before putting it out on the counter and flicking the rest away. "Alright then, let's roll."

"I'll go warn the others at the back, you two better find a good place to strap yourselves in. It's going to get real bumpy over here." Mickey said before dashing right out of the cockpit.

"Well, you heard him." Cid barked at them before setting himself more comfortably on the pilot seat and preparing himself for what was to come.

Both teens quickly made their way to the back where their seats were aligned neatly next to a wall. Kairi couldn't help but feel butterflies flying in the pit of her stomach as her sweating hands clumsily tried to fasten the seatbelt.

'_**Kairi, are you alright?'**_ Naminé's voice echoed within her.

_'Just nervous.'_ The redhead admitted. Her head still hurt and her knee was slowly becoming swollen even though the small and sluggish trickle of blood had stopped. Things could either go great or spectacularly bad right now, and unfortunately, it was all leaning towards the latter. It was like the seriousness of the situation had just finally dawned on her.

"Come on." Riku said as he reached towards her smaller trembling hand and guided it through the motions of fastening the buckle. Even after she felt the holdings in place, Riku had yet to let go. Kairi, of course, didn't mind. Looking up, her eyes only met a blindfold, but beneath the black fabric she could easily imagine the concern in his aqua colored eyes.

Words weren't needed.

Riku squeeze her hand gently in his, and Kairi found herself understanding his wordless message as clearly as a summer day. A smile graced her lips as she returned the gesture. She would not be alone through all of this.

Their touching moment was brought to a halt when the ship's loudspeakers came to life with Cid's voice. "Operation's startin' so everyone sit down and shut up."

The time to act was upon them. The operation would start now.

"I'll only go through this once. In case of cabin decompression, oxygen masks will drop down. Figure out how to put them yerselves cause I ain't going back there and putting them on for you."

Kairi felt another comforting squeeze of her hand as she pressed her back onto her seat, her only free hand gripping her armrest in anticipation. A queasy feeling inside of her surfaced once she felt the ship lurch forward with a loud groan.

"We attack in 10 seconds, but before that… well, it's been a real pleasure flying with you folks." Cid's voice called out again before it continued in a more serious tone. "10…9….8…"

The ship slowly but surely began to gain speed, the momentum making her head lean back further and push into her seat. Every second felt like an hour as she waited anxiously for any telltale sign of battle. Part of her was already imagining all sorts of scenarios ranging from probable to downright impossible.

"7…6…"

Kairi panicked. What was she supposed to do if the hull of the ship was torn apart and they were all sucked into the void of space? As if sensing her panic, Riku just gave her a reassuring squeeze of her hand before gently running his thumb over the skin of her hand.

"5…4…"

She could feel her heart beating frantically as well, as Naminé's worry resonated with her own. They were a couple of hits away from being blasted away, who could blame her? Gripping the charm in her pocket with her free hand, she hoped against hope that the small object did in fact bring luck out in between worlds as it did out at sea.

"3…2…"

Kairi gulped, suddenly very aware of the dryness of her throat. Clutching the nearly filled charm in one hand, she sought the comforting warmth of Sora's light with her right hand while her left continued to hold onto Riku's gloved hand. For that one moment she tried to once again remember what it was like before any of this happened, back when it was only the three of them and their long lasting dream for adventure. She imagined Riku's smug look as he teased a childishly pouting Sora. She imagined Sora's twinkling sapphire eyes that shown with glee as they playfully splashed water at each other, his easygoing laughter that always accompanied that lopsided grin of his as he reached towards her and asked her to join in; a grin so bright that it would sometimes even make the sun look dull.

"1."

The ship rocked forth as the attack commenced, pushing and pulling at everyone as if challenging the straps that currently left them glued to their seats. Kairi closed her eyes as she felt the few contents of her stomach flip in what was probably an attempted corkscrew. A loud blast mixed in with the sound of screeching metal rocked the ship violently to the left, making Kairi wince slightly as the strap that held her in place bit painfully into her skin. The ship's alarms went off once more only adding to the cacophony of sounds that assaulted her ears, and even though Kairi waited fervently for the moment it would all cease, the end just never seemed to come.

Another hit and this time, the white fluorescent lights of the cabin blinked out, leaving only the flashing red lights of the alarm from bathing the entire ship in darkness. Seeing the nightmarish spectacle it created, Kairi shut her eyes once more, choosing darkness instead. Even then, the blaring wails of the alarm still slipped through.

"Ev-ryone- we ar- goi- in. I rep-et we're –oing in!" Cid's static filled voice suddenly called from the loudspeakers, his words just barely comprehensible through the loud noise.

Turbulence like no other struck at that moment, making them all feel almost as if the entire ship was being continuously torn asunder. Because of the flashes and sounds, Kairi was only just barely aware of the strange object that seemed to have fallen from above her and was now dangling before her. Even when her eyes finally landed on it long enough to notice the bag like structure attached to what looked like the lower part of a mask with strings, it was as if she could not fully register what its significance was.

'_**Kairi!'**_ A voice called out even though it seemed so hazy and far-off. The redhead vaguely recognized the same tone as Naminé's, though it puzzled her why the answer hadn't arrived sooner. The blonde seemed to call again, her tone urgent, but Kairi could only gaze sluggishly at the object before her, hardly noticing the way the corners of her vision were being slowly taken over by black.

"KAIRI!"

The last thing redheaded princess was aware of was a voice calling out to her and a flash of silver and black before she lost complete consciousness.

* * *

"So you want to tell me exactly what's been happening?" Leon's stern voice cut through the silence that had overtaken the inside of the house as Merlin held the end of his stethoscope over Sora's chest. "Where exactly have you been?"

The old mage gave a tired sigh before putting the instrument away and running his hand through his long beard.

"I've been trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Though loathed to admit it, I hadn't made much progress until very recently. Because of the various rampaging Heartless throughout the worlds, other powerful mages like myself were tasked with keeping things from falling apart so you can probably understand why I have been kept busy." Merlin said, taking his hat off and using it to fan himself.

"Well, you're late." Leon said as he crossed his arms and leaned back on the wall.

"It's like my old friend always said. A wizard is never late, nor is he early; he arrives precisely when he means to." The old wizard said as he put his hat back on and summoned two cups filled with piping hot tea.

"Still, what I don't understand is why with so many wizards out there trying to regain control of the situation, none of you thought it prudent to tackle the problem by its roots. Why not help Sora directly if he's the reason all of this is happening?" Leon asked, refusing the teacup offered to him by the mage.

"Unfortunately, things are not that easy, my friend." Merlin said with a sad look. "The terrible reality is that there is very little that we can do to help Sora directly. He is caught up in a terrible war against himself and the only way out is retrieving the fragments. He's done splendidly so far, there's no doubt about it. To last this long in his condition is practically unheard of."

"So you're saying he will still lose himself completely, regardless of his efforts so far, if those fragments aren't brought back." The swordsman surmised.

"Yes, in fact I'm rather surprised to see him as he is. By my own calculations he should have lost his heart already." The mage said, his prominent snowy white brows furrowed.

"Then why did you only just show up now?" Leon said, just barely holding back his irritation.

"Quite simple really. Despite all the chaos, things were a lot better than they could and should have been had Sora lost his heart. It just proved to me that he was still fighting." Merlin said.

'Could it be?' Leon thought to himself, a frown on his face as he recalled what happened earlier.

"Did something happen?" The aged wizard said. With a sigh, Leon retold what had happened.

"It must've been Roxas's doing." The brunette said, his eyes travelling to Sora's prone form. "It all makes sense now. After the attack earlier, I got an urgent message from Tron about Sora. I had left Roxas to watch over him but when I finally got here he was gone. Here I thought he was taken away, when in reality he's been here all this time."

"I see." Merlin said as he ran his fingers through his beard. "I had suspicions about Roxas and Naminé being special nobodies, their births were quite unique, but this event only confirms it."

"Special in what ways?" Leon asked, eyebrow rising in question.

"Well Naminé had control over Sora's memories and those connected to Sora to a certain extent. Roxas on the other hand, well, I believe he was somehow in possession of a heart of his own. I do not know if it's the same for Naminé but it is very likely. I do not know how or why this is the case, but that's the only hypothesis I can think of that would explain what happened. By having his own heart and rejoining Sora, Roxas own light managed to temporarily stabilize Sora and stop him from losing his heart. In a way, Roxas is the only thing that is keeping Sora's heart anchored to his own body." The old wizard explained.

"Is that really alright though? What effects would this have on Roxas?" The brunette asked.

"I am not quite sure myself. But I suspect that it is for the best. If Sora did lose himself to that evil darkness, then there is a good chance that Roxas would follow suit. Despite having his own heart, Roxas is not yet stable enough to exist completely independent of Sora, hence why they cannot stray too far from each other without consequences." Merlin concluded.

"I see." Leon said, closing his eyes in contemplation.

His thoughts however, where interrupted when an alarm went off in the computer. The brunette quickly rushed over to check what was wrong, but the answer became clear when he realized that the alarm was the one hooked up to Sora, and that the Keyblade Master was once again thrashing feverishly on the bed.

"Not again!" The brunette cursed. Apparently even Roxas's sacrifice couldn't stop these fits from happening. "They're becoming more frequent. Isn't there something you can do?"

"I can use magic to cool down his fever and hold him down so he won't accidentally hurt himself. Asides from that, there is very little I can do." The wizard said solemnly as he approached the struggling brunette and pulled out a long wand from the sleeve of his robe. "In the mean time, I think it would be best to prepare ourselves as well."

"You aren't saying that the Heartless will attack again after so little time has passed, are you?" Leon asked, pausing from where he had been sending Tron a series of instructions.

"These are more than just simple fits caused by a high fever. Why, I bet my robe and hat that these fits have been occurring at the same exact time as the unexplained phenomena in other worlds." Merlin said as he waved his wand only for sparks to appear and cover the unconscious brunette.

"Now that you mention it. The previous Heartless attack happened almost at the exact time that Tron recorded Sora's vitals going haywire. The time that the attack suddenly stopped also matches the time that Roxas disappeared." Leon realized. "If that's the case, we should warn the others to be on the lookout-…dammit."

"What is it?" Merlin asked, noticing the suddenly tense expression on the brunette's face.

"Cid's not answering." Leon said in disbelief.

"Perhaps he is taking a break and just can't hear it." The wizard suggested as he finished up another spell.

"No, you don't get it. I talked to Cid. He said he was in Twilight Town and that he was going to pick up the group. That was more than three hours ago, he should have met up with them by now." Leon said, locking his stormy gray eyes onto that of the wizard. "Something's wrong."

* * *

"KAIRI!" Riku called out as he shook the redheaded girl.

At some point during all the chaos, Kairi had let go of his hand, but with the oxygen masks dropping down on them, he had just assumed that she had done so to put one on. It was quite hard to tell what was going on, considering the alarms going off and the fact that he was wearing a blindfold. Only after putting on his own mask and then nudging Kairi only to get no response, did Riku realize that no mask covered her face. A wave of guilt had washed over him at that moment. He should have made sure that Kairi was wearing a mask before he put on his own.

Taking a deep breath, Riku then removed the mask already attached to his face, before unclasping his seatbelt and reaching over to put the mask on the redhead's face. After securing the strings that held it in place he placed two fingers on the side of her neck and then felt a deep sense of relief when he realized that she had only fainted. Sitting back on his seat, he fought back the growing urge to black out, and fumbled for the other oxygen mask. Once he had it in his grip he quickly put it on.

"**Riku!"** Naminé's voice called to him as he grabbed onto his armrests after a particularly violent movement of the ship. Considering the sudden surge of power, he assumed that the former nobody had just materialized close by.

"Naminé? What's wrong?" Riku asked, raising his voice over the sound of the alarms.

"The charm is gone. I think Kairi dropped it!" The girl shouted in an attempt to be heard over the noise. With her usually soft and shy voice, it was no surprise that it was difficult to be heard.

Riku cursed before turning towards the blonde, or at least where her voice was coming from. "Don't worry, I'll go look for it. You watch over Kairi."

The silver haired teen expanded his senses while doing his best to ignore the blaring sounds of the alarms. He couldn't afford to get distracted now. If something happened to that charm they were all doomed, their whole journey would be rendered meaningless. What if it was crushed under a chunk of metal or something? Sora's light or not, the charm was still made out of seashells, _fragile_ seashells at that.

A warm sort of feeling at the edge of his mind caught his attention, and after recognizing it as Sora's radiant light, Riku leaped into action. Taking a long deep breath of the oxygen provided by the mask, he got to his feet, and then dashed over to where he had felt the light emanating from. The sounds of the still ongoing alarm disoriented him, and with the sudden movements of the ship, he had to grab onto anything within reach for purchase, or else risk being shaken around like a flimsy rowboat in the middle of a storm.

Riku let out an inaudible curse when he realized that the charm had somehow gotten further away than he had originally thought. In fact, it appeared to now be in the back sections of the ship where the Disney trio was currently at. With any luck, they had it.

A massive jolt of the ship caught him off guard, making his side slam against the metal wall and almost knock the little oxygen he had right out of his lungs. Riku winced as he slowly got up on unsteady feet. That would most definitely be a large bruise tomorrow, though at least there were no broken ribs.

Riku fought the lightheadedness that assaulted him as he finally crossed the doorway to the other section of the ship. Just a little further and the charm would be safe. Yet, even though he mentally tried to push onwards, his body had other ideas. His legs gave away right under him, making him crumble down on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. His lungs burned from the lack of oxygen and at this point, he began to wonder if the awful cacophony of the alarms had finally rendered him deaf. And then the next thing he knew, there was something being force in his face while something seemed to pat him in the back.

Riku turned his head the other way as a reflex, but after the strange object was coaxed on his face and he was left with no other choice but to breath, only then did he realize that it actually felt really good. In fact, it was as if his mind became sharper and sharper with each breath he took.

"Riku, are you alright?" The silver haired teen heard a voice call.

"Garsh, he doesn't look very well." Another voice called.

Grasping the object with his own hand, he realized that it was another oxygen mask, this one seemed to come with its own little tank of precious air, and after taking several greedy gulps, he turned towards the source of the familiar voices.

"Mickey? Goofy?" Riku asked, straining his ears to hear.

"Oh thank heavens you're alright." The mouse king said, though his voice sounded strangely distorted. The silver haired teen realized that it must have been because of the masks, but doing so brought several other questions. Like how exactly they had managed to put the mask on when they were clearly not designed for anything other than a human.

Riku shook his head. He had more important things to worry about.

"Have any of you seen Kairi's charm? It should be around here somewhere." Riku asked, his voice rising in order to be heard by the others.

"She lost it?" Goofy asked in alarm. Riku rolled his eyes beneath his blindfold, but otherwise remained silent. If it wasn't lost, he wouldn't be looking for it would he?

"We must have missed it while we were dealing with Donald." Mickey said before directing his words at him. "Don't worry, we'll help you look."

Riku nodded in gratitude, but then frowned slightly. "Wait, where is Donald anyways?"

Both king and knight exchanged glances before it was Mickey that answered. "He woke up earlier but when we told him what was happening, he went out like a light."

Riku raised a brow in response, but otherwise didn't comment. He'd seen the duck's anger fits before and considering the delicate situation they were facing, maybe it was for the better.

"Hey guys, come quick! I think I found it." Goofy's voice cut over the noise.

The duo followed Goofy with great care as the ship continued to rock hazardously. Thankfully, since they currently found themselves in the sleeping quarters of the ship, there were enough objects to hold onto.

"I can feel it close by." Riku said. Though he could not see through his blindfold, he knew that the charm was around here somewhere. The feel of Sora's light was unmistakable.

"There's something glowing under that bed." Goofy said before there were some rustles and strained sounds, all loud enough for him to hear. "I got it!"

"Great, now let's go." Mickey called out quickly as the ship began a series of violent movements.

"Gawrsh, I think I'm stuck." Goofy replied.

"You're kidding." Riku said with a shake of his head, but nevertheless moved to help out the knight.

Grabbing hold of one of Goofy's legs alongside the king, Riku pulled hard, but to no avail.

"Alright, let's try again on the count of three." The teen said, steadying himself. "One…two…THREE!"

At the exact same moment, the ship gave a violent lurch, which combined with the pull, sent Riku, Mickey and a newly freed Goofy soaring through the air before hitting the opposite door and falling in a dog pile.

"Is everyone alright?" Mickey asked through the groans that followed.

"I'd be better if you guys would get off of me." Riku said from under the pile.

"Oh right, sorry." Mickey said, getting up. Goofy followed right afterwards.

"Well at least we have the charm." The knight said before handing it over to Riku.

"Thanks." The teen said as he pocketed the item. "Now let's head back. I'd rather be strapped down safely the next time the ship decides to play toss with us."

"Now that I think about it, it's been some time since we entered the portal. I thought we would have reached the other side by now." Mickey said.

Riku nodded. The king was right. He wasn't an expert on portals or anything, but it almost seemed like an eternity since they entered. And though he loathed admitting it, the only explanation he could come up with, was that the portal they entered didn't seem to end simply because it _didn't have an end_.

'_We could very well be stuck on an endless loop as the ship slowly tears itself apart.'_ Riku thought, scowling.

The sound of metal being torn snapped him out of his thoughts as his ears quickly tracked the source. Along that sound was a low underlying hiss that made the hairs at the back of his neck stand on edge.

"Guys, I think we should get out of here. Now." The teen said.

"There must be some kind of leak. Let's grab Donald and go. There's an emergency latch that we can use to close this section off." Mickey said, and with a nod, the three were off.

They returned to the section where the duck currently rested, and after somehow securing the oxygen mask to the duck's bill, Riku slung the duck over his shoulder seeing as Goofy was still in no condition to do so because of the injuries he suffered in the previous battle.

Riku winced slightly as he walked, his gait reduced to a snail's pace because of the added weight and his own injuries.

"Are you alright?" Mickey asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I must've gotten hit harder than I thought." The teen replied as they slowly made their way towards the front of the ship.

Another lurch and Riku nearly fell over on the ground had it not been because Mickey managed to grab him in time. The sound of screeching metal followed, making Riku grit his teeth. As if that annoying alarm wasn't loud enough.

Turning back towards the path ahead, he adjusted the unconscious duck on his back, but before he actually took his first step, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, his brow furrowed in thought.

"Riku, what's wrong?" King Mickey asked. Riku removed his mask just slightly before turning around.

"Is it just me or does something smell like smoke?" The teen asked.

"I don't think so." Mickey said.

It wasn't very likely. There was almost no oxygen, or so to speak of in the room, therefore the chances of something burning were very slim…unless.

"These masks, the ones with oxygen tanks, where exactly did you find them?" Riku asked.

"They were in a box at the back, why-" Mickey began, but then stopped abruptly when he finally managed to connect the dots. "Oh no."

Almost as if on cue, a large explosion rocked the entire ship, sending debris flying. Goofy managed to put up his shield just in time to protect the group from the flying shards of metal, but even then, Riku could still feel the burning heat of the explosion and hear the hungry flames licking in the distance. But even more worrying was the faint almost inaudible hiss that made his blood run cold.

"Everyone hurry!" Riku shouted over the noise. "It's gonna blow!"

The group redoubled their efforts to reach the exit, Mickey going up ahead to douse the flames in magic, while Riku and Goofy limped their way over, the latter having gotten hurt in the explosion. Riku grit his teeth as he trudged onwards. He honestly hadn't realized that he had suffered this much damage until now when it seemed to be finally taking its toll on him.

"Just a bit more, we're almost there." Riku said, not only to the others but also himself.

They finally made it to the door, and the second they crossed it, Mickey had already lowered the thick metal door that acted as a latch. And not a moment too soon, considering the large, though muffled explosion that followed on the other side.

"That was close." Goofy muttered, dropping to the ground in relief.

The king turned to both of them and reached into his pocket to retrieve two potions and an ether for himself. "Here."

They graciously accepted the flasks and downed them quickly, feeling the healing effects already. In the least it managed to numb the pain, something that Riku was quite thankful for.

"Come on, we still have to get Kairi and then go see Cid." The cloaked teen said, moving forwards to leave this place behind. Since the oxygen tanks were just about the only things that the fire had within reach, there was a good chance that the flames would just die out with time. The ship's superior design also made it very difficult for the fire to spread to other sections.

The group made it awkwardly through the corridors of the ship until finally reaching Kairi. The redhead was still unconscious by the looks of it, though the warm presence around her told him that Naminé was just barely keeping watch.

'_She must be exhausted.'_ Riku thought. He could not really blame her. If both girls shared the same source of energy, then it stood to belief that if one of them was not only unconscious but also exhausted, then the other could not be far behind.

They positioned Donald in the seat next to her, buckling him down firmly in place with the seatbelt. Once secure, they very slowly made their way to the cockpit, stopping occasionally when the turbulence became too strong for them to properly handle.

The door slid right open to reveal what sounded like a rather frazzled Cid. It didn't take much effort to imagine the pilot's eyes glued to a dark seemingly endless tunnel outside while an oxygen mask lay strewn messily across his face. Riku had no doubts that this was what the others were currently seeing. It seemed as if the pilot's complete and total concentration was on driving the ship, or more like what remained of it. He didn't even pay attention to the continuous wails of the alarm, though at this point, Riku didn't either.

"So you guys still alive?" The pilot called out, not even turning to look at them.

"Looks that way." Mickey began. "Is there any sign of an exit yet?"

"Not as far as I can see. The radars and positioning gear are jammed too. We'd have better luck driving with a blindfold on." Cid said, before facing Riku. "No offence."

"None taken." Riku deadpanned. "Hey, is there something you can do about that alarm?"

"Oh." Cid began. "I didn't realize that the damn thing was still on."

After pressing a few buttons on the control panel, the once constant wailing was finally brought to a stop, leaving Riku's ears ringing slightly. The silvery haired teen let out a massive sigh of relief. This was so much better.

"Hey Riku, your pocket is glowing." Goofy pointed out. Riku blinked behind his blindfold before realizing that there really was a strange sort of warmth emanating from his pocket.

'_What the-?'_ Riku thought in confusion. He didn't have anything in his pocket- oh wait, yes he did. Pulling out the charm delicately as if he were dealing with glass, Riku held it up, only to nearly drop it as a large pulse of light seemed to shoot out of the charm. The light was so bright that for a moment Riku swore he could see it clearly despite his covered eyes.

"Hey where's it going? It just left the ship!" Goofy called out in alarm.

Riku's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Riku, I don't want you to panic, but the charm's not glowing anymore." Mickey said, very slowly, as if to calm an impending storm.

The cloaked teenager froze. There was just no way. Gripping the charm, Riku expanded his senses once more, only to realize that the light was no longer in the vicinity, in fact, the light had altogether left the charm. Mickey was right.

Riku was about to let out an onslaught of curses, but before he could begin, there was a gasp.

"Everyone look!" Mickey called out. "The light, it's breaking through the tunnel!"

"You mean we have an exit now?" Goofy asked in excitement.

"Well I'll be, looks like we can finally leave this hell hole." Cid said.

"Come on, we have to follow that light!" Riku called out, his tone raised. There was just no way they could let it go away. Not now after they put so much effort into carefully gathering each fragment from the previous four worlds.

"Alright. You guys better go back and strap yourselves in. It's gonna get bumpy." The pilot said.

The trio nodded before leaving the room. Once outside they quickly positioned themselves in the seats close to Kairi and Donald, their seatbelts holding them tightly in place. Riku took the seat right next to the redhead, making sure she was completely ready for what was to come, and then holding her hand as the ship began to rock violently from side to side.

'_Here goes.'_ Riku thought, mentally bracing himself for what would follow.

The ship's tremors began to turn increasingly stronger with each passing second, making Riku grab on tightly to his armrests until his knuckles turned white. Next to him Kairi's head bobbed to the sides only slightly since he had wrapped her in a blanket so as to prevent any injuries. The same had been done with Donald, and considering how strong the rattling motions were, he knew they had done the right thing.

The oscillations increased once more, to the point that even without an alarm ringing in the background, Riku still felt like he would go deaf from just hearing the screeches and groans of the metal that composed the ship as it was pressed around and bent in ways that were not meant to be. All in all, it sounded like a wounded mechanical monster; the kind that he would have surely been afraid of as a kid.

'_This is getting ridiculous!'_ Riku thought as he grit his teeth. Any stronger and the ship would fall apart.

Suddenly, the tremors just stopped, and for a moment Riku almost thought that it had all been in his head, or that maybe he had just died and gone to heaven. It was something just too good to possibly be true.

The ship's lights seemed to blink into existence at once, visible even through the cloth that covered his vision. A sudden silence descended upon them at that moment. It was almost as if the softest of sounds could suddenly make the illusion shatter. Seconds ticked by, and when they realized that everything remained the same, all three males let out a collective sigh.

"We made it, Ahyuk!" Goofy's joyous laugher rang in the air.

"That was too close." Riku said, leaning his head back on the seat.

"I must say, for a minute I thought we were goners." Mickey said with a small laugh.

The speaker high on the wall seemed to buzz to life as Cid's electronic voice cut through. "Everyone alright back there?"

"We'll make it." Riku joked.

"Well, I'mma just gonna let you know that we're putting as much distance between us and that hell hole. Unfortunately, our tracking systems are busted, so still no clue on where we are. I can see a world close by but-" Cid began but was suddenly caught off. The lights in the room began to blink ominously. "Dammit!"

Riku felt panic claw at his heart once more, it didn't help that the ship began to slowly shake once more. "Cid can you hear us? You're cutting off. What's happening?"

After a few seconds of silence, the pilot answered. "We've got problems. The damage to the ship was greater than I expected. Three of our four engines are failing and there is a massive hole in the hull. At this rate we won't last another five minutes."

"Gawrsh, what are we gonna do now?" Goofy asked.

"I'll try and do an emergency landing on that world, but I'm not makin' any promises." Cid said.

"But an emergency landing would mean being possibly stranded in some other world for Kingdom-Hearts-knows how long!" Riku realized.

"We're already caught up in this world's gravitational field and even if there was another planet nearby, I highly doubt that the ship'll last that long anyways. We have no choice, but on the plus side, I'm almost positive that the light headed in this direction."

"Looks like we were going to have to land here sooner or later." Mickey said with a sigh.

"Alright, then I guess we'll all just have to brace ourselves." Riku said with a defeated tone.

To say they had to brace themselves was an understatement. The cloaked teen never thought he'd say this, but if he had to choose between the portal trip and this, then he'd definitely go for the portal. At least there, he did not have to deal with his eardrums threatening to burst, or the very room to heat up as if he had landed himself inside of an oven. And certainly inside the portal he never had to experience the horrible feeling of free fall that claimed his insides, only to progressively increase, and make every muscle of his body clench in apprehension.

And much to his complete displeasure, the ship's alarm decided to come to life once more, if only to irritate him further. At this point he couldn't help but feel a pang of envy as he looked at Kairi and realized that, unlike him, she was not conscious to experience any of this.

Riku immediately felt guilty. It wasn't like it was Kairi's choice to pass out. In case things made a turn for the worse, he wouldn't be able to wake her up either. She'd have no idea of what was coming. Being oblivious to the world around you was as much a blessing as it was a curse; a very terrifying curse at that.

'_What am I thinking?'_ Riku reprimanded himself as he shook the somber thoughts away. Holding the girl's hand gently in his, the cloaked teen formed an oath. _'I'll get us back on firm ground safely, I promise.' _

"Gawrsh, I can see the sea!" Goofy's voice called. "It's kind of hard to tell from all those dark clouds, but it's there!"

"It should be easier to land there since it's water, right?" Mickey asked.

"Are you kidding?" Cid's incredulous voice replied from the speakers. "Striking the surface of the water at this speed ain't any different from hitting concrete. I'm deploying the parachutes, with any luck, that'll make us slow down."

The next thing he knew, Riku felt a distinct upwards tug, that would have made him lose his lunch had his stomach been full. But even with the pull, Riku couldn't help but feel that there wasn't any radical difference from before. They were still practically freefalling at a dangerously high speed.

"Cid?" Riku called out.

"Shoot, it looks like the parachutes got torn." The pilot said, letting out a colorful string of curses.

"Any other ideas?" Riku asked.

"Not at this point, no." Cid called out. "DAMMIT!"

"Come on, there's got to be something, anything, we can do!" Riku said, raking his brain for answers.

"We're running out of time!" Goofy said.

'_Riku, come on, think! We need to find a way to slow down or at least break our fall, since it's too late to slow down…wait that's it!'_ Riku snapped out of his thoughts and quickly turned towards the spot he knew that Mickey was at. "Listen, I have an idea!"

"What is it?" Mickey asked in surprise.

"Do you think a reflect spell could break our fall?" The cloaked teen asked.

"Well, it might, but it would have to be very strong, like strong enough to withstand the brunt of the hit." Mickey said, his tone puzzled.

"If I give you some of my power, do you think you could make a barrier like that?" Riku asked, his tone turning deadly serious. His control over magic was awful, that's why he never really bothered with learning. And yet, the magical energy was still there.

"Riku, do you realize what you're asking me? It's too dangerous!" The king called out.

"We don't have a choice!" Riku shouted back, before realizing what he had done and averting his gaze. Opening his mouth again, he spoke, only this time softly. "I'll begin the transfer, just make sure that Kairi and the others make it out all right, that's all I ask."

Silence followed afterwards, giving Riku the distinct impression that the mouse king was staring intently at him. For a moment he feared that Mickey would not accept, but his fears were proven false when the king spoke again.

"All right, I'll do it."

Riku extended his hand until it touched the king's shoulder. From there, he quickly began to pour his energy onto his small body. The air seemed to ripple and pulse as the process continued, despite the feeling of unease that clouded his senses, he was still able to 'see' the magic begin to take form, like a spring coiling before a jump.

Riku fought against the exhaustion that began to slowly replace the energy he had given away, and that only seemed to strengthen as he counted the agonizing moments until the ship impacted the harsh surface of the ocean. Each second felt like an eternity, and had the experience not been so painful, he would have really been amazed by how time seemed to stretch in these situations.

Cid's voice emerged from the speakers once more, only this time, there were no jokes, or expletives, this time it was only a simple countdown. "Impact in 5…4….3….2…1-"

"REFLECT!" Mickey cried out.

All at once Riku felt an enormous amount of power being unleashed, so strong that it actually pushed him back with a violent shove, before making him slam against his seat. A huge pressure settled on his chest at that moment, giving him the impression of being pinned under a behemoth of a boulder. It was made all the more worse because of the drained feeling that left him weakened and unable to do anything for himself.

A massive jerk of his being soon followed as the newly created barrier struck the waves below and all at once the pressure leaved him. Falling back on his seat, his lungs gasped for air, while his body lay immobilized and broken, Riku really felt like nothing more than an unfortunate ragdoll that fell in a heap. In fact, he could hardly even stay aware of what was happening.

"RIKU!" A voice called out to him, though the teen could hardly focus on it. His position felt different though, like someone had moved him. There was something soft underneath him as well. Everything was so hazy, though at least he managed to recognize the voice as Mickey's.

"Did we make it?" Riku groaned.

"Everything is okay. Now quickly, drink this." He felt something being coaxed into his mouth and after liquid seemed to flow into his mouth, he couldn't help but choke out of reflex.

"Easy, come on you need to drink the potion." Mickey's voice called again.

"They're not doing much, don't you have anything stronger?" It was Cid's voice this time, and unlike the last times, it did not sound like it was coming out of some electronic equipment.

"What about that there Elixir that the moogles gave us?" Goofy seemed to offer.

"That's right! I almost forgot about that, I'll go get it, help me prop him up will ya?" Mickey's voice rang again.

Riku was then suddenly aware of a warm something being forced into his mouth. For some reason, just its contact made him suddenly begin to feel better.

"Alright now swallow." Mickey's voice seemed to coach. Riku did as told, and immediately felt a warm feeling run down his throat to the pit of his stomach before enveloping him completely.

It felt simply wonderful.

"Guys?" Riku groaned.

"How're you feeling?" Mickey asked.

"Like a Behemoth just pranced over me, but I think whatever you gave me is taking effect. I'm starting to feel better." Riku said, attempting to sit up, but then wincing from the pain.

"You'd better stay still, you're in no condition to be movin' round." Cid said.

"How's everyone?" Riku asked.

"Everybody made it out all right, though the same thing can't be said for the ship." Mickey said, giving the pilot an apologetic look.

Riku's eyes widened in surprise, before turning towards the blonde. "Cid…sorry."

"Leave it. I can always rebuild her later." The man said gruffly.

Riku could tell that the man was bluffing, but he didn't say anything. Judging by the way Mickey spoke, there really must not have been anything left of the ship. He had just lost the results of several months of hard work, for their sake too. He was probably feigning disinterest just so they wouldn't feel any guilt over the loss. He really did appreciate it.

"Huh? Where am I?" Riku heard Kairi's groggy voice say softly.

"Kairi!" Riku said in relief.

"Riku?" Kairi asked, before the sounds of shuffling filled his ears. "Riku! What happened to you? Are you alright?"

Riku winced from the redhead's alarmed tone. He must be in a really bad shape then.

"Well, we had a bit of a situation earlier, but I'm alright now." Riku assured the girl while trying his best to actually seem convincing. Judging by the silence he got in response, there was no such luck.

"Kairi, we gave him an Elixir so he should be alright now after a bit of rest. For now, we have more pressing matters." Mickey said, trying to placate the girl.

"That's right, we have to find the escaped fragments." Riku said, and almost immediately regretted his words.

"Escaped fragments? What escaped fragments?" Kairi said, her eyes narrowing and her tone becoming unusually hard.

Riku sighed. He hated having to break the news to her, but Kairi had the right to know, and considering their situation, it was best that she was kept updated. Running a hand through his hair tiredly, Riku quickly began to tell the redhead all the events that took place after she had fallen unconscious.

"Do you understand now? We're gonna have to start up from zero again." Riku said, sighing.

"But that's not exactly true, is it? We still have the charm and if what you said is true about Cid managing to follow the escaped fragments all the way out here, then they shouldn´t be far, well, wherever _here_ is. Where are we anyways?" Kairi asked, taking interest in her surroundings for the first time.

Riku did so as well. Now that he thought about it, there was something oddly familiar about this place.

"Gawrsh, I don't recall ever being here." Goofy said.

Riku frowned. That wasn't right. This place felt familiar enough. If only he could actually take a look at their surroundings, then he might be able to figure it out, but right now he had too little to go by.

'_Well for starters it's really kind of cold. The wind is blowing hard too, and there's this salty tang in the breeze. And underneath me, is this sand? Were they close to the ocean? Could it be? Nah, I mean, it's too cold, especially at this time of the year. It couldn´t possibly be.'_ Riku thought to himself, but then frowned. If that was so, then why didn't it feel right?

The cloaked teen furrowed his brow in thought before deciding to expand his senses. Though he couldn't currently 'see', this was the next best thing. Every world felt different, and if he could get a feel of this world, then maybe everything would click into place. Concentrating hard, Riku finally managed to grasp at this world's essence only to nearly gasp in surprise, his reaction halted simply because Kairi beat him to it first.

"T-this can't be!" Kairi said in surprise. "How can this be Destiny Islands?"

…..

Sora stared in shock at the impostor in front of him, his brain almost completely frozen. Pain snapped him out of his thoughts, the sharp feeling emanating from his injured wrist. Azure eyes landed on the obsidian claws biting into his skin, making it crawl while adrenalin pumped through his veins, and then, almost as if on reflex, Sora was a blur of motion.

Eyes snapping back to the enemy before him, Sora summoned Oblivion into his uninjured hand before delivering a downward slash that forced the creature back. But instead of retreating, the creature just dashed behind him at impossible speeds.

'_No way!'_ Sora thought in shock. Had it not been because of the wisps of darkness trailing behind it, Sora would not have been able to track it with his eyes. How could something be that fast?

A shadow moved and Sora could only summon Oathkeeper into his injured hand to block, making him wince from the pain as sharp black claws collided with the sleek white metal of his keyblade. Pain reverberated through his arm like a current, the blow's strength so deceivingly great that it actually forced him back.

'_It's strong too!'_Sora realized before reprimanding himself. He really shouldn't have been surprised, considering that this Heartless was his final challenge.

The Heartless moved once more, giving Sora little time to think. Feeling panic settling as the mass of black neared, Sora once more swung his blade only to swipe at the air uselessly. The creature had dodged. The sound of fabric shifting brought his attention to the side, making him send his keyblade spinning in that direction with his uninjured arm.

There was a feral growl as his doppelganger swiped the offending blade away, making the length of steel flash out of existence before reappearing in Sora´s outstretched hand once more as the Keyblade wielder blocked his enemy´s incoming strike. Unfortunately, the injury on his right wrist made the block half a second too slow, and five sharp digits quickly found their way to his side.

Sora would have been thankful if that was it, but apparently the Heartless was just getting started. It continued with a kick to the stomach before leaping at him with a slashing motion, and then after he barely managed to block, it somehow flipped in midair, leapfrogging over him to attack his back.

Sora quickly turned, blocking with Oblivion, which unfortunately, only served to aggravate his wound. The fact that he was primarily right handed didn't exactly help.

The Heartless pressed further, its wicked grin only feet away from Sora's own frown. The brunette's arm began to tremble under the huge strain, forcing Sora to act. With a swift movement, the teen let Oblivion fall to the side and twisted around to swipe at his dark copy with Oathkeeper.

The tip of the blade managed to graze at his Doppelganger, leaving a faint trail of black hanging in the air like smoke. The Heartless, having jumped backwards to dodge his attack, was now circling him slowly on all fours, its eyes flashing dangerously as wisps of darkness rose slowly from the bear trap that the creature called a mouth, a mouth that, strangely enough, continued to grin at him.

The Heartless let out a terrible roar, one that easily betrayed its size, and made the ground beneath the brunette shake. Pillars of darkness erupted from the ground like massive geysers, forcing him to look away from his opponent so that he could dodge. Surprisingly, the attack was not over yet. The large torrents swerved in midair as if containing a mind of their own, before seemingly solidifying and coming at him from all sides. Knowing that there was simply no way he could dodge, or even block all of them, Sora concentrated and prayed that he could charge up a reflect spell just in time.

Luck was on his side for once as the magic he unleashed quickly encased him in a transparent barrier. The darkness closed in on him, striking at his barrier on all sides like hail, if hail was capable of tearing holes in concrete, that is. Small cracks began to appear on his barrier, making Sora fear that it would not hold. Thankfully, there was only so much darkness in the attack, and the onslaught soon died off, leaving his weakened barrier to shatter into a million pieces.

To Sora's great surprise the battlefield had changed during the attack. No longer did a mirror stand in the middle, and more noticeable of all were the many black puddles that now littered the entire ground, all varying in shape and size. They unnerved him for some reason. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he just couldn't see the bottom of the pools, the same way people feared the darkness because of what it may hold hidden in its folds. In short, Sora would have much rather preferred that those puddles were filled with the warm crystalline waters from his home world.

But now, standing on one of the few dry spots on the platform, Sora became aware of something even more unnerving. The Heartless was nowhere to be seen.

'_Where did it go?'_ Sora thought, his eyes darting around frantically. His back suddenly felt very exposed.

A small sound made him turn his head quickly to face it, but when he did, there was nothing remarkable there. A shuffle to the side and his eyes quickly followed the sound, his heart beating frantically in his chest while beads of sweat began to form on his brow.

A sudden swoosh made him bring up both his keyblades defensively, and the next thing he knew there was a loud clank, and eerie yellow eyes stared at him, not three feet away. The creature swung its claws only to be blocked by pure instinct, before jumping backwards and disappearing down a puddle, in a matter not at all dissimilar from the regular Shadow and Neoshadow Heartless.

Sora waited for the creature to surface, but much to his surprise, all he felt was a stinging pain as sharp claws raked his back. The creature had reappeared alright, but not from where he had expected. A small puddle behind him had been his exit point, and once its strike was done, it had sunk back through another entryway. Biting back the pain, Sora assessed the damage while keeping his guard up. His wrist was in terrible shape, making it difficult to handle his blade. His side and back were also now stained red, the only thing keeping the pain from becoming too much was probably the adrenalin in his system. There was this worrying tremble in his limbs that had yet to dissipate, and was starting to slow him down considerably. With a sigh, Sora realized that there was no way he could win in this condition. He was given no choice but to use a healing spell.

Sora stood wearily as he charged up his spell. Just like the barrier before, this spell proved to be no problem at all. In fact, it was almost disquieting. When casting a spell, he was wide open to attack. That the Heartless hadn't bothered to attack him at this crucial moment was disturbing. Why not just attempt to take him seriously and finish him off? Did it just find it amusing? Could it feel amusement? Then why did it let him heal? Why give him a fighting chance? Why was this Heartless so hard to read?

Small sound made him snap out of his thoughts and gave him just enough time to narrowly dodge as the creature leaped at him with its claws outstretched. Sora could only stare as he saw those sharp talons pass inches away from his face, missing their target, before disappearing down another puddle with the rest of his doppelganger.

He realized what this was then. Just like what happened in his first battle with Valor's corrupt form. The creature was trying to break him. It was the same strategy; become unseen and then wait for your opponent to drop his guard to strike swiftly. His previous opponent had used darkness as his cover to remain unseen as it circled him. This creature however, had taken it a step further. Instead of just hiding in the puddles created by its own attack, it was also using them as a way to weave around and strike when and where he least expected. Apart from that small sound that announced its arrival, and gave him only a fraction of a second to react, there was no real way of knowing where it would come from. It was unpredictable.

The Heartless was playing the part of ´predator´, while he was the prey. Worst of all, he had no choice but to play along. He'd been coaxed into playing defense from the start, mostly because the creature's attacks were insanely fast. Any attempts to go on the offensive were thwarted easily. Now, especially, it had become very difficult to switch tactics.

'_How am I supposed to turn things around if it's got me exactly where it wants me?'_ Sora thought to himself. The answer became quite clear.

If the Heartless was going to strike fast, then he just had to be faster.

* * *

**Canis: "Okay, for those of you who don´t want a massive cliffhanger up ahead, then I suggest you turn back now (but not before leaving a review ;) ). I´m giving you all a fair warning."**

**Crystal: "Sorry for the wait but we were each swarmed with our own problems, we'll try to get the next one up by late February but no promises ^_^"**

**Canis: "Better make that March. I have to take driving lessons then."**

**Crystal: "So until then, please leave a review, whether an opinion or a question its fine with us. Just don´t ask for what will happen next. That´s a surprise that even I don´t know about."**

**Canis: "Until next time!"**

**...**

* * *

...

A swift ruffle of fabric and his Doppelganger was on the move again, exiting a puddle behind him to his left. Sora quickly brought his blades up. He was going to be ready for it this time. The Heartless's right clawed hand struck Oblivion sending shivers down his left arm. As the Heartless's body sailed over him, its eyes glowing maliciously, Sora rapidly slashed at it with Oathkeeper, only for its clawed digits to clutch his blade in midair.

"NO!" Sora called out in shock. How could it have grabbed his Keyblade like that so easily?

The creature wasn't done yet, however, as it knocked away Oathkeeper from his now limp grasp. It landed on its hands and then delivered a wild kick to his stomach that threw him backwards. A low crouch and a cat like pounce soon followed, its obsidian claws striking his shoulders.

An awful feeling of weightlessness in his stomach told him that he was falling. His body felt as if it had struck the surface of something liquid, only to slip right through it. Had he fallen over a puddle? But that couldn't be, could it? If so, then why was it so deep? Why could he still breathe for that matter? Shouldn't he be wet?

The feeling did not stop, but Sora had more important things to worry about, as evidenced by the slash to his side that he got for his troubles. The creature had yet to withdraw from his attack, weaving around him with the ease of a fish swimming through water. Five diagonal slashes across his chest, followed by a kick to the side, and an elbow to the stomach that made him cry out in pain followed in quick succession; all too fast to block or dodge. His body was then grabbed harshly and swung down. Sora could barely register what was going on before he felt his body being slammed on a hard surface, knocking the air right out of his lungs.

It didn't even matter if he had seen it coming; his magic had yet to fully recharge from casting curaga, and even if it had been surprisingly easy to tap into his magic during the fight, it would not have been enough to create the barrier at once.

Breathing heavily, Sora blearily looked up to the silhouette standing above him. Two glowing yellow orbs and a wicked grin stood out from the darkness. The brunette weakly raised his trembling right arm and summoned Oathkeeper into it as his enemy approached. The pain was almost too much.

Sora gasped as a foot pressed down on his chest. Oathkeeper fell to the floor with a loud clatter as a wet feeling in the back of his throat forced him into a coughing fit. His head rolled to the side, sending a wet _something_ splattering on the platform below him. He did not even need to see it to know what it was. The coppery taste it left in his mouth was hint enough.

He felt him himself being picked up by the front of his shirt, the tearing sounds indicating that the creature's claws had gone through the fabric. His feet were now just barely touching the ground. Sora forced himself to look at his enemy despite the black corners that had begun to overtake his vision. His stubborn blue eyes locked with the vile mocking yellow ones, despite the fact that he was just barely holding it together. The monster merely grinned; its mouth stretching almost grotesquely.

And then he felt it.

The shadows seemed to stretch out and twist around him in unnatural shapes. There was this sudden feeling of suffocation that pressed against his chest, bringing with it a deep sense of despair. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and a horrible unsettling feeling made him cringe. It was as if something were crawling on his skin.

Sora weakly reached out towards his doppelganger, wrapping both his hands around it's obsidian skin, only to freeze as he saw the black wisps of darkness that surrounded the Heartless's wrist reach out towards him and begin to wrap over him, their consistency changing to become thicker and more slime like.

'_What the-?'_ Sora thought, attempting to wrench his arm back, but couldn't. The darkness would not allow him.

The black substance continued to spread up his arm, stretching as if t had a life of its own, but no matter how much he struggled, he just couldn't get away. Sora inched away as the darkness reached his shoulders, his now entirely covered arm tingling uncomfortably underneath in an almost numbing way.

"S-stop!" Sora called out despite knowing that the Heartless would never give in to a demand like that.

Sora eyes travelled to those mocking yellow orbs, but then stopped as he noticed something strange. Black mist was coming off of the Heartless as if evaporating, and still, that was not all. Something was changing. The darkness itself was shifting around them both in a matter that unnerved him.

A movement out of the corner of his vision caught his attention, forcing him to look at the spot where the heartless grabbed and tore at his shirt. His expression changed from confusion to morbid fascination as he saw the creature's claws shorten slowly and be replaced by regular human nails; the darkness on its skin seemingly retreated to reveal normal skin. At the same time he faintly became aware of some changes within himself. The black slime-like substance now covered most of his body, making an odd numb feeling overwhelm him. The tips of his blackened fingers seemed to tingle oddly and looking down at them he saw his nails elongate into sharp claws.

"NO!" Sora called out with a hint of fear in his voice. It couldn't be happening again, not after everything he had gone through.

Already he could feel his face go numb as the darkness covered it. His vision began to change as well, making everything slowly take on eerie monochromatic tones. Inside of his mouth he could already feel his teeth painfully changing into fangs, making him grit them harder while hoping that he did not accidentally bite his tongue off.

The complete opposite was happening in front of him.

The creature's black clothes had been replaced by an exact copy of his own garb, minus two things: firstly, the many tears and holes that littered it from battle were missing, and secondly, the design was slightly off, it being colored only in black and what his now unreliable vision told him was silver. The designs near the knees were different, though fully recognizable.

Sora cried out in shock, only for it to come out as a strangled growl.

It was his Final Form.

Head tilting to the side, the now transformed creature looked at him from under a fringe of jet-black hair with a face identical yet completely different to his own. Yellow colored eyes, now human in all except color and glow, gazed at him with a malicious and feral look that contrasted sharply with the seemingly teasing smile tugging on its now human-looking lips.

Raising its free hand up in front of it while the other still held him firmly in place, there was a flash of light that made Sora close his eyes from its intensity. When it was over and he finally opened them, he felt his heart drop and his blood run cold.

Oblivion now rested in the creature's outstretched hand, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Floating behind him as if on its own accord was none other than Oathkeeper. Yellow eyes narrowed predatorily as a maniacal grin spread on the now-black-and-silver-clad being's face.

With a mighty swing, the Heartless struck.

To be continued...

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V


	19. Contrary

**Okay, here´s the March chapter I promised. Sorry for the wait, but it was only recently corrected because of a few real world issues, particularly tough schedules, a lot of university work, getting used to living without my parents, a long and arduous road trip, and currently being sick from that trip (amongst others). **

**I could complain about the lack of feedback from the last chapter, but I won´t. I mean, I love to hear about what people think of this story, maybe what they feel that could be changed to make it better. But I don´t believe in threatening others for reviews, or saying I won´t update until receiving a certain number of reviews (I wouldn´t be able to get a chapter fast enough anyways, lol). I feel lucky enough to have as many as I do, (especially since by some miracle none of them are flames). **

**There is really only one chapter left, besides a possible epilogue so I really just wanted to thank everyone out there who has been reading this story, and has been sticking around despite my awful updating schedule (or lack thereof).**

**As always, Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me.**

**Chapter 19: Contrary**

* * *

A swift ruffle of fabric and his Doppelganger was on the move again, exiting a puddle behind him to his left. Sora quickly brought his blades up. He was going to be ready for it this time. The Heartless's right clawed hand struck Oblivion sending shivers down his left arm. As the Heartless's body sailed over him, its eyes glowing maliciously, Sora rapidly slashed at it with Oathkeeper, only for its clawed digits to clutch his blade in midair.

"NO!" Sora called out in shock. How could it have grabbed his Keyblade like that so easily?

The creature wasn't done yet, however, as it knocked away Oathkeeper from his now limp grasp. It landed on its hands and then delivered a wild kick to his stomach that threw him backwards. A low crouch and a cat like pounce soon followed, its obsidian claws striking his shoulders.

An awful feeling of weightlessness in his stomach told him that he was falling. His body felt as if it had struck the surface of something liquid, only to slip right through it. Had he fallen over a puddle? But that couldn't be, could it? If so, then why was it so deep? Why could he still breathe for that matter? Shouldn't he be wet?

The feeling did not stop, but Sora had more important things to worry about, as evidenced by the slash to his side that he got for his troubles. The creature had yet to withdraw from his attack, weaving around him with the ease of a fish swimming through water. Five diagonal slashes across his chest, followed by a kick to the side, and an elbow to the stomach that made him cry out in pain followed in quick succession; all too fast to block or dodge. His body was then grabbed harshly and swung down. Sora could barely register what was going on before he felt his body being slammed on a hard surface, knocking the air right out of his lungs.

It didn't even matter if he had seen it coming; his magic had yet to fully recharge from casting curaga, and even if it had been surprisingly easy to tap into his magic during the fight, it would not have been enough to create the barrier at once.

Breathing heavily, Sora blearily looked up to the silhouette standing above him. Two glowing yellow orbs and a wicked grin stood out from the darkness. The brunette weakly raised his trembling right arm and summoned Oathkeeper into it as his enemy approached. The pain was almost too much.

Sora gasped as a foot pressed down on his chest. Oathkeeper fell to the floor with a loud clatter as a wet feeling in the back of his throat forced him into a coughing fit. His head rolled to the side, sending a wet something splattering on the platform below him. He did not even need to see it to know what it was. The coppery taste it left in his mouth was hint enough.

He felt him himself being picked up by the front of his shirt, the tearing sounds indicating that the creature's claws had gone through the fabric. His feet were now just barely touching the ground. Sora forced himself to look at his enemy despite the black corners that had begun to overtake his vision. His stubborn blue eyes locked with the vile mocking yellow ones, despite the fact that he was just barely holding it together. The monster merely grinned; its mouth stretching almost grotesquely.

And then he felt it.

The shadows seemed to stretch out and twist around him in unnatural shapes. There was this sudden feeling of suffocation that pressed against his chest, bringing with it a deep sense of despair. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and a horrible unsettling feeling made him cringe. It was as if something were crawling on his skin.

Sora weakly reached out towards his doppelganger, wrapping both his hands around it's obsidian skin, only to freeze as he saw the black wisps of darkness that surrounded the Heartless's wrist reach out towards him and begin to wrap over him, their consistency changing to become thicker and more slime like.

'What the-?' Sora thought, attempting to wrench his arm back, but couldn't. The darkness would not allow him.

The black substance continued to spread up his arm, stretching as if t had a life of its own, but no matter how much he struggled, he just couldn't get away. Sora inched away as the darkness reached his shoulders, his now entirely covered arm tingling uncomfortably underneath in an almost numbing way.

"S-stop!" Sora called out despite knowing that the Heartless would never give in to a demand like that.

Sora eyes travelled to those mocking yellow orbs, but then stopped as he noticed something strange. Black mist was coming off of the Heartless as if evaporating, and still, that was not all. Something was changing. The darkness itself was shifting around them both in a matter that unnerved him.

A movement out of the corner of his vision caught his attention, forcing him to look at the spot where the heartless grabbed and tore at his shirt. His expression changed from confusion to morbid fascination as he saw the creature's claws shorten slowly and be replaced by regular human nails; the darkness on its skin seemingly retreated to reveal normal skin. At the same time he faintly became aware of some changes within himself. The black slime-like substance now covered most of his body, making an odd numb feeling overwhelm him. The tips of his blackened fingers seemed to tingle oddly and looking down at them he saw his nails elongate into sharp claws.

"NO!" Sora called out with a hint of fear in his voice. It couldn't be happening again, not after everything he had gone through.

Already he could feel his face go numb as the darkness covered it. His vision began to change as well, making everything slowly take on eerie monochromatic tones. Inside of his mouth he could already feel his teeth painfully changing into fangs, making him grit them harder while hoping that he did not accidentally bite his tongue off.

The complete opposite was happening in front of him.

The creature's black clothes had been replaced by an exact copy of his own garb, minus two things: firstly, the many tears and holes that littered it from battle were missing, and secondly, the design was slightly off, it being colored only in black and what his now unreliable vision told him was silver. The designs near the knees were different, though fully recognizable.

Sora cried out in shock, only for it to come out as a strangled growl.

It was his Final Form.

Head tilting to the side, the now transformed creature looked at him from under a fringe of jet-black hair with a face identical yet completely different to his own. Yellow colored eyes, now human in all except color and glow, gazed at him with a malicious and feral look that contrasted sharply with the seemingly teasing smile tugging on its now human-looking lips.

Raising its free hand up in front of it while the other still held him firmly in place, there was a flash of light that made Sora close his eyes from its intensity. When it was over and he finally opened them, he felt his heart drop and his blood run cold.

Oblivion now rested in the creature's outstretched hand, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Floating behind him as if on its own accord was none other than Oathkeeper. Yellow eyes narrowed predatorily as a maniacal grin spread on the now-black-and-silver-clad being's face.

With a mighty swing, the Heartless struck.

* * *

Sora stared with wide eyes as the blade headed towards him. In a last ditch effort, one fueled by desperation rather than careful planning, he raised both feet, the muscles of his legs coiling tightly despite the numbness that had settled in them, and kicked with all his might.

The kick connected, making the stronghold that held both his arms in place shatter and propel him backwards just as Oblivion´s sharp edge came rushing down; the keyblade managing to tear the darkened fabric of his clothes and slice at his thigh.

Sora felt his back sting painfully as he landed on the floor; a result of the injuries the creature had inflicted upon him, now numbed by the transformation. Even then, it did not compare to the pain that blossomed from his leg right then. He didn´t dwell on it though, specially not after looking up and seeing the ugly scowl on his doppelganger´s face as it realized that, not only had its prey gotten away, but that it had also landed a hit. Raising its hand up, Oathkeeper disappeared behind him, before reappearing in his hand with a flash of light.

Sora scrambled to his feet as he saw his foe approach slowly with a manic look on its face, but then winced and fell back on the ground after putting too much weight on his injured leg. With the ever present numbness there, it was hard to assess his current damage.

The Heartless loomed over him, its arm raised once more to deliver a swift end. The blade swung down once, forcing Sora to do the only thing he could and roll out of the way. The creature, however, was having none of that and threw Oathkeeper in his direction like an oversized throwing knife.

Sora´s now glowing eyes widened in surprise, before he leaped away, his muscles seemingly acting on their own, or his sense of self-preservation just screaming at him to do what it took to survive. He felt pins and needles in his injured side, the pain once again resurfacing through the numbness. He wanted to stop, to just lie on his side, but he endured it. This was not the first time he had ever fought while enduring so many injuries, and this would definitely not be his last. At least, that´s what he continued to tell himself.

The keyblade master landed a few feet away on all fours, his claws grinding against the floor, but otherwise providing enough traction to stop him from sliding. Though he preferred standing on his own two legs, he could not deny the advantage that his current position gave him. Like this, he could still move around despite his injuries. Both his arms and leg could grant him the stability that his other leg could not, even if it did give him a slight limp.

Between having a limp and not being able to move at all, it was really a no-brainer.

It wasn´t like he could even afford to be picky.

**You can run all you want, but you can´t hide.**

Sora turned to glare at the casually approaching Heartless, a low growl forming in his throat instead of the words he so wanted to say right now. The creature´s words bothered him, not because of the mocking tone they were covered in, but because of the bitter truth that rang through them. He really could not hide; he could hardly run as it was.

_´I really only have one option.´_ Sora thought, gritting his teeth as he eyed his foe.

He had to fight. Whether he won or lost, it did not matter. If he didn´t get a move on, then his defeat was certain.

But how could he?

His magic reserves were drier than a desert. He did not even know if he could cast a simple spell in his current form. Based on this, he highly doubted that he could heal his leg or any other injury he got in the future. Worst of all, he had no weapon he could use against his enemy. Even his wooden sword was welcome at this point.

Sora racked his brain for an answer. Looking down he saw his currently blackened hands holding him up, each one of his fingers ending with a sharp and deadly-looking two-inch claw. The obvious answer flocked to him, but it did not make him feel any more confident. He was not a hand-to-hand fighter. His physical build was not suited for that sort of thing, he wasn´t even sure if he could manage with his current arsenal. He had never fought this way before, even in his lion form, he still wielded the keyblade in his mouth.

**Is it really the time to be daydreaming?**

The creature´s dark tone brought him out of his thoughts, just in time to leap out of the way as Oathkeeper and Oblivion sailed through the air towards him. Sora landed a few feet away, before being forced to dodge again as the creature sent wave after wave of attacks.

_´Geez, what´s this guy´s problem?´_ The keyblade master thought as he was forced to leap away once more. Never once did he dare take his eyes away from his opponent.

**How does it feel, Keyblade Master; that overwhelming despair of knowing that you will never leave this place alive?**

Sora growled lowly in response, the smug look on his opponent´s face making anger bubble from inside of him. He was getting out of this alive, he was not going to fail.

The creature´s yellow irises turned towards him, his expression mocking.

**How does it feel; that heartbreaking realization that everyone you ever cared about has been condemned to a life of eternal darkness just because of one silly teen´s mistake? **_**Your**_** mistake.**

The teen growled once more. By now both of them were circling each other slowly. He knew he was being baited, but he found it difficult to resist. There was this underlying urge to leap and tear at the Heartless before him. But what bothered him the most was that in a way, the creature before him was right. His friends were all in danger and it could have all easily been avoided had it not been because of him. Had he not been more careful on that deserted planet, none of this would have ever happened. Nobody would be suffering because of him.

**But don´t feel bad, your friends were just foolish enough to place their trust in you. They´re the ones at fault.**

_´Shut up!´_ Sora called out, but only an animalistic snarl came out. He didn´t care what this creature said about him, but his friends were another story.

**Are you angry? I´m only saying the truth. You can´t hide anything from me, because you see, I AM you.**

_´No you´re not!´_ Sora shouted, his voice coming out as an angry roar. He was just about done with hearing this guy. There was just no way it was a part of him.

**But you see, I AM a part of you. **

Sora stopped, eyed widening in disbelief. Could it somehow read his mind? The Heartless seemed to throw its head back and laugh.

**You´re just too easy to read. I realize it now, among other things as well. You wouldn't believe the things that darkness made us aware of. Of course, in a few minutes none of it will matter. Even as the seconds pass, I can feel the power fill me. We will finally be in control and everything will be bathed in darkness.**

Sora gasped slightly in realization. Was that what the Heartless, no, his corrupted final form wanted? Was that what his previous enemies were all about? Had the darkness inside of him taken such a heavy toll?

**NOW LET´S END THIS!**

The Heartless gave him a demented smile, before releasing both keyblades and rising from the ground, two glowing wisps like fox fire floating right beside it, along with the blades that now hovered behind it like a pair of wings. It took him only a split second to realize what was about to happen.

Dashing towards him, his corrupted form reached out with one hand, followed by the other in a swipe-like motion, instantly, Oathkeeper and Oblivion exploded outwards in his direction, their blades glowing a hot white color that seemed to blind him.

Sora leaped to the side and away as the two blades moved with minds of their own, circling around his foe as it approached him at high speeds. He knew that getting anywhere near it would only result in having the blades attack him. His foe didn´t even need to lift a finger to attack, _literally at that_.

The Heartless spun in midair to stop its charge before sending Oathkeeper and Oblivion towards him, almost as if two invisible hands controlled each blade. Once again, the teen was left no choice but to quickly move away while doing his best to not aggravate his wounds.

_´I have to find a way to attack, but as long as it keeps doing that, there´s no way I can get past its defenses.´_ Sora grit his teeth as he continued to move around, dodging each and every attack sent at him. Even if he got hit once, that would still leave him completely open to a barrage of attacks. His own experience while using his final form told him that once a foe was caught up in the onslaught, its defeat was pretty much guaranteed; that´s why he could not allow, under any circumstances, to get hit.

**Dodging won´t get you anywhere, Keyblade Master.**

The corrupted form taunted him, its insane chuckles echoing around the room. Sora took a deep breath to calm himself and chanced a look around him. The place he was in was just like the previous platform, only the floor was so blackened and tarnished, that it seemed to meld with the darkness surrounding him and his own body by extension.

_´I could fall right off the side and I would have no idea until it´s too late.´_ Sora thought, mentally gulping at the idea. Something told him that he wouldn´t be able to fly like he did in that fight with Xenahort´s Heartless. The air was so thick with darkness that it almost suffocated him.

His current modified vision did not help. Looking at the light that emanated from his foe was almost too much; almost like staring directly at the sun. And though he seemed to be able to see through the darkness better, if anything, it just disturbed him all the more. It was almost as if it were reaching out to him, drawing him towards it like a moth to the flames. It was both hypnotizing and alluring in a way that made him feel uneasy.

Sora shook his head.

This was not the time to think about that. He needed a strategy and he needed one now.

Oblivion shot towards his head like a bullet, and he only had a fraction of a second to move his head out of the way, the sharp blade still managing to clip a few hairs from his darkened bangs. The teen then leaped out of the way as Oathkeeper came towards him with every intention of taking him out. Needless to say, he couldn´t help but feel a little betrayed.

_´At least it looks like I am still fast, even with these injuries.´_ Sora thought as he dodged once more. _´Is it because of this form? Is that what we did? Did we actually swap our abilities along with our looks?´_

If that was the case, then at least he had a speed advantage. But even then, how was that supposed to help against his _Final Form_? That silver clad form represented the peak of his abilities, the mastery of all the skills he had polished throughout his journey; much like the arduous transformation of graphite into diamond. How was he supposed to go against that?

Sora leaped to the side, before looking at his foe once more. He heard his claws click against the ground, and out of the corner of his eyes he could see those thin wisps of darkness fluttering behind him like substantial smoke.

Memories flooded into his mind at that moment. He remembered fighting pureblooded Heartlesses since they too would dispel a similar smoke. He also remembered how this fight began, and how his corrupted form fought before their switch.

_´If only I knew how.´_ Sora thought as he was forced to leap away once more. He was getting tired of having to run like this, but if only he could find a way to fight back.

**Are you ready to give up yet? You´re just wasting your energy.**

_´Never!´_ The teen growled.

If only he could figure out how to use those abilities that his foe used against him. If they really did switch, then there was no reason as to why he shouldn´t be able to use them himself. They were his only chance to turn the tables, unless his foe suddenly decided to play nice and turn him back to normal. Sora furrowed his brow as he thought of the answers he sought. He was not much of a strategist, and he definitely wasn´t the sharpest tool in the box, but when he really needed it, his brain always seemed to come through in the end.

´_Come on, there has to be some kind of way. I mean, I am the closest to being a Heartless than I am going to get with my heart still here, I should be able to do this. But how? How do Heartless use those kinds of attacks?´_ Sora thought, listing off everything he knew about Heartless.

They were simple creatures; he himself had been one for a short time, though he made a laughable threat compared to other Heartless. This was because their strength came from the darkness and there was very little in his heart at that time. The same could not be said for now. Heartless were also attracted to light, and particularly to the Keyblade, using instinct to guide their actions. If that was the case, then why did it seem so hard?

Sora looked back at the darkness that continued to lure him. Was this what being a Heartless felt like? It seemed so vast and yet strangely inviting. In a strange way it reminded him of the sea back at the islands. And just like the rocking of the waves soothed his heart, he couldn´t help but feel oddly relieved just looking at the strange rhythmic pulses that the darkness around him emitted. It really did make him want to lie down on the sand and forget all his worries…

His entire body suddenly flared up in agony, making him snap out of his trance and roar out in pain. Pressing a hand to his side where the pain was most intense, he saw black smoke emanating from the spot where he was most likely just slashed. Turning his yellow eyes towards his foe, despite the blinding light that assaulted him, he saw something that made his blood run cold.

There he stood, his corrupted form grinning tauntingly while holding up the still-smoking blade of Oblivion. It´s stance changing slowly to one he was painfully familiar with.

It´s attack had just hit and he was in for one heck of a follow-up.

His foe suddenly kicked off towards him, gaining speed despite not having been touching the ground to begin with. Extending both arms with slashing motions, large arcs of blinding light were formed as the Keyblades traced the invisible paths on the air around them.

He would not be able to dodge. That was something Sora quickly realized as he saw those wide arcs approach, arcs almost encompassing the entire platform they were fighting on.

He had been stuck between a rock and a hard place.

_´What do I do?´_ Sora thought with urgency as he saw those blinding waves of light approach.

Looking back all he saw was the vast darkness that called to him. It was alluring and yet dangerous like the open ocean.

He felt a drop of sweat roll down the side of his head, another odd thing to feel considering the numbness of his current form. Inside his chest, his heart was beating a mile an hour.

Why couldn´t things be more simple? That was what Sora found himself wondering as he saw his options run out. He saw the blinding light approach him as if it were almost in slow motion. Behind him, he could still feel the darkness calling to him, urging him to let go.

_´Maybe things are more simple than they seem.´_ Sora thought as he saw the incoming attack, a strange sense of calm from the darkness filling him.

Suddenly, his eyes widened in realization.

_´That´s it!´_

* * *

"There´s no sign of them, it´s like they´ve vanished into thin air." Leon said as he typed frantically into the computer.

He had done everything he possibly could to trace the Shera, even using Tron, but to no avail. This, of course, brought up new and more terrifying alternatives as to why Cid and the others had just disappeared off the map when the computer should have been able to keep tabs on that particular ship.

Should he send a rescue party to find them?

_´But there´s no time and it´s not like we have the resources to manage that sort of operation at the moment. We have an invasion on our doorstep and there´s no way we can just leave Sora alone.´_ Leon debated before turning towards the wizard. " What do you suggest we do?"

The wizard was buzzing around Sora´s bed, seemingly casting spells and creating wards. The brunette on the other hand was still twisting and turning on the mattress, well, if he could be called a brunette anymore.

The black markings had appeared once more, only this time it was more violent than ever, to the point where now large sections of his skin and even his hair had become a jet black color like those of Heartless.

Merlin had to put restraints on him once the claws kicked in, or risk injuries to himself and others.

"I have faith that they are alright, wherever they may be. Cid may be a buffoon sometimes, but even I have to admit that he is a decent pilot. He would not have allowed anything to happen." Merlin said. "The most worrying part of this is how this will affect the mission on the long run."

"I know. The whole premise of this mission depended on whether or not they could get back here on time. If they really got stranded somewhere, then there´s no way they will be able to make it here on time. Not with the way things are going. He´s on his last legs, no matter how much I hate to say it, the truth is clear." Leon said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "The question remains. Just what are we going to do?"

"I will try to see if I can ascertain their location through other means, but looking for a single ship in so many worlds is… well, it´s certainly like searching for a needle in a haystack." Merlin said as he left through the door, leaving the brunette to ponder in silence.

He was doing his best to take in this situation in a calm and orderly fashion, but he quickly found himself failing. Sora was turning into a damn Heartless in front of them and there was nothing they could do about it.

Looking at the teen was almost unbearable.

_´But as the leader of the HBRC, and more importantly, as Sora´s friend, I have to keep it together.´ _the brunette thought with resolve. _´I have to be strong.´_

"Leon." A voice called as the door to the house was suddenly opened. Turning around, the swordsman was surprised to come face to face with Cloud.

"Is something wrong? I thought you were holding down the fort over at Ansem´s study." The brunette asked.

"Tifa´s taking care of things right now. " The swordsman said passively, though Leon was quick to notice the way the blonde´s seemingly glowing blue eyes travelled over to the bed where Sora currently thrashed about.

Leon gaze softened a bit. Cloud was really just as worried about Sora as he was; only it was much less evident in his case. But who could blame him? The brunette had this way of growing close to you, whether you liked it or not.

At least he wasn´t the only one.

"He´s still hanging on, but it´s not looking good. We´ve lost contact with Cid and the others, so we also have no idea of their current whereabouts." Leon said, answering the question that the blonde was surely about to ask. "How´s the town, is everyone alright?"

"From what I saw the damage is mostly structural. There are no casualties according to Aerith, but what worries me is that the storm still hasn´t let up. There´s something very unnatural about it. You know what I mean, don´t you?" The man replied.

Leon nodded. "Merlin just came back and explained it to me. Long story short, that storm is caused by Sora´s condition, and because of it, we can expect more Heartless attacking soon."

"I see." The blonde said, going quiet for a moment before looking away and speaking once more. "Yuffie told me about Roxas. Is he-?"

"He´s back with Sora. Believe it or not, things would be a lot worse had he not gone back." Leon said as both turned to look at the Keyblade Master.

"I can imagine." Cloud replied, seemingly lost in thought.

"I´ll have the claymores set up once more for the next wave of Heartless. Do you think you could run a small errand for me in the meantime? I need you to get this disk to Ansem´s study so Tron can do the necessary adjustments for the claymores. If you run into Yuffie on the way, update her with what´s going on and tell her to spread the news. Merlin will try to find Cid and the others so he can get them back here." Leon told the delivery boy.

Cloud nodded, but before leaving through the door, he turned to the other swordsman once more. "Make sure to get some rest after this, you don´t look too good yourself."

Leon did not reply with anything else than a wave of dismissal and an almost unperceivable upward twitch of his lips, a small hint of a smile that vanished the moment the computer came to life with a loud ´beep´.

_´What now?´_ The swordsman wondered as he turned towards the computer. He had no time to be dilly dallying when Radiant Garden was on the brink of an invasion, and his friend was in terrible danger.

A few keystrokes later and a large window opened up in the computer´s screen. On it were the faces of two very unlikely contacts.

"Chip? Dale?" Leon asked, slightly surprised. "I wasn´t expecting contact from you two."

"Heya Leon!" Both chipmunks greeted. "How´s it going?"

"Could do better." Leon replied truthfully, sending one gaze towards the bed where Sora lay. He really wished that Merlin would hurry it up. They really weren´t going to make it at this rate.

"Well, that´s no good." Dale, the red nosed chipmunk answered.

"Well of course it isn´t!" Chip, the black nosed and sharper of the two, interjected.

Leon sighed. "Listen, I appreciate the call, but if this isn´t urgent, I´m afraid I´ll have to hang up."

"But it is imperable!" Dale said, jumping up and down.

"You mean **imperative**." Chip corrected, giving a light smack on the back of his brother´s head.

"That´s right IMPERATIBLE!" Dale said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Imperative!" Chip corrected once more, while crossing both arms.

"Imper…impera…."Dale said, struggling to find the words, before just pointing at his brother. "What he said!"

Leon rubbed the bridge of his nose as he felt another headache coming.

It wasn´t that he disliked seeing the two chipmunk brothers, but the fact was that he just didn´t have the time. He needed to find Merlin and see if he, by some miracle, had discovered their location yet, take care of Sora, AND prepare the town for another invasion.

_´Then again, the two chipmunks are the royal gumi engineers and navigators, so there´s a chance that they have contacted King Mickey and know where he is.´_ Leon realized before facing the small rodents once more. "You two wouldn´t, by any chance, happen to have contacted the King recently, have you?"

"Nope." Dale answered with a dopey grin.

_´So much for that plan.´_ Leon thought, sagging slightly. "Then you guys have no idea where he and the others currently are?"

"Nope." Dale replied once more, confirming his fears.

Then, much to his surprise, Chip cut in.

"Well, that´s not exactly true. That´s kind of what we wanted to talk about, Leon." Chip answered, drawing the swordsman attention to him. "Well, we´ve sort of been mapping out the locations of these freak storms that have been popping up everywhere, in hopes of finding more about them. So far they have all been in worlds we are familiar with from Sora´s journey, so it hasn´t been that difficult. That way whenever we find a new storm, we send a warning to other worlds nearby or to Master Yen Sid so that they can send help."

"´Cause every time a storm hits somewhere, the Heartless attack that place!" Dale said.

"We only just recently got word of the storm that hit Radiant Garden, but here´s the thing, there´s another storm that just recently appeared besides this one." Chip continued.

Leon narrowed his eyes. If these storms were hitting places related to Sora, then there was a huge chance that the King and the others were actually in one of these stricken worlds. Furthermore, if each storm brought Heartless to a certain world, or as he was starting to believe, each storm was actually just a battalion of Heartless ready to invade, and Heartless were intrinsically attracted to the Keyblade, then it was more than plausible that a storm would show up where three Keyblade wielders were currently at.

"So in what world did this storm show up in?" Leon asked, his brow furrowed.

"Destiny Islands." Chip answered, his expression unusually serious.

"Dammit!" Leon said, slamming a fist on the counter, before running a hand through his hair. He understood the implications all too well. Taking his gunblade in hand, the swordsman got up, but not before turning towards the chipmunks. "I have to go find Merlin and tell him about this. You´ve been a great help, thanks."

"Aww, shucks." Dale replied, blushing slightly.

"You´re welcome, Leon. Just make sure Sora is up and running the next time we see him." Chip said, giving him a small salute before cutting off communications.

Leon gave a small nod before turning towards the door.

"Tron, I´m leaving you in charge. If anything happens, anything at all, get in contact with Tifa or the others-" Leon began, but was then interrupted by a loud ´pop´. Leon sighed in relief as he recognized it, at least he wouldn´t have to leave Sora alone anymore.

"And where do you think you are going, lad?" The wizard´s voice cut through as the man began to wave off the leftover smoke with his long wand.

"Merlin! I was just going to go out looking for you." Leon said before looking at the man directly in his eyes. "I think I know where Cid and the others are, but first, can you use magic to go there and help them?"

"While I am relieved that you´ve had more luck than I have in finding their whereabouts, I´m afraid the storm will make it impossible to reach them by magic." The wizened man said, making Leon grit his teeth in frustration. Seeing the man´s reaction, the wizard just smiled. "Which isn´t to say I don´t have a solution."

Reaching into the sleeves of his robe, the wizard held his hand out for the brunette to see. The swordsman looked on with confusion and a hint of surprise.

"Is that what I think it is?"

* * *

"How can this be Destiny Islands?"

Riku snapped to attention as he heard Kairi utter those words, the red head´s message only confirming his fears. He had sensed it earlier, in both the salty air and the sand beneath his fingers. It was an essence that he had known all his life, something that whether he liked it or not, he knew it would forever be carried in his blood.

But somehow, there was something in the air that was wrong. Well, aside from the fact that they appeared to be caught in what seemed to be a storm. It didn´t even take a genius to realize that Destiny Islands rarely had any form of tempests of this magnitude, especially at this time of the year.

"I don´t know, but I really don´t like the looks of this." Cid said.

"This feeling…it reminds me of what happened back in Radiant Garden." Riku realized. Everyone seemed to know exactly what he was talking about, and of course, who would need a reminder of that awful day? It was so hard to believe that it had only happened a few days ago, when it felt almost as if years had gone by.

"If that´s the case, then we should hurry or risk falling prey to another Heartless invasion." Mickey said as he turned towards the main land.

"Donald? Hey look everyone, Donald´s waking up!" Goofy called out as the duck groggily got up.

"Where am I?" The duck asked as he looked around.

"Destiny Islands apparently. Are you feeling well enough to stand?" Mickey asked, extending his hand towards the mage.

"Watch out!" Cid called while steel flashed before their eyes, and before any of them registered what had just happened, Cid was standing in front of them with a long spear pinning down the smoking remains of what undoubtedly had been a Heartless.

"This isn´t good, it looks like we are too late." Mickey said, frowning.

Riku was cursing himself for having let down his guard like that. They were lucky that Cid was armed with that spear, and even better was the fact that using such a weapon would not draw the Heartless like a Keyblade. The results would not be very pretty, otherwise.

At any rate, he knew that it was better for them to get moving quickly.

"Come on, we should get moving. I doubt that Heartless was alone, and the faster we get this over with the better." Riku said.

"Are you sure you´re okay?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah, the worst is over, and it´s not like we have a choice otherwise." The teen said.

"Hold up. Do you guys have any idea where to go? We can´t afford to waste time like in the other occasions. Just get in, get the fragment and get out." Cid said and the two teens exchanged looks, despite one of them wearing a blindfold.

"Well it´s not that difficult of a choice." Riku said, crossing his arms.

"What he means to say is that as kids we really only ever spent most of our time in one place. That´s were most, if not all, our fond memories are, so we know for a fact that the fragments should be there." Kairi said but then frowned. "The only problem is that we need to take a boat to reach Play Island, and it could be tough, not to mention dangerous, in this weather."

Riku got up slowly, being mindful of the many injuries that littered his body, before continuing. "But like I said it´s not like we have a choice. Thankfully, we all have more than a bit of experience in moving through rough waters."

With that said, the odd group quickly left the beach with the two locals in the lead as guides. They encountered several Heartless along the way, but thankfully they were easy enough to dispatch without having to bring out the Keyblades. Asides from those encounters, things were rather quiet, unnaturally quiet at that. It wasn´t until they crossed one of the more populated areas, that Riku realized exactly what was amiss.

"What is it Riku?" Kairi asked.

"Don´t you find it strange?" The teen asked, shaking his head. "I didn´t really notice it right now, but doesn´t it seem a little strange? I mean, look around, we´re near the marketplace, one of the busiest parts of town, but there´s not a soul in sight. We haven´t seen or heard from anybody since we arrived despite crash landing here."

"Now that I think about it, you´re right." Kairi realized in shock, worry was clearly etched on her face. "Where do you think they are? You don´t think the Heartless already got them do you?"

"Let´s not get ahead of ourselves." Mickey said. "Besides, judging by what we´ve seen, I doubt that the townsfolk have been attacked. They have most likely just taken shelter."

"Won´t that still be a problem? Sheltered or not, the townspeople will still be in danger." Kairi began, but was then interrupted as a shrill scream resonated through the air.

Riku nearly felt his heart stop. He could easily recognize that high pitch.

* * *

Kairi recognized the voice, and judging by the fleeting look on Riku´s face, he did as well, though on the inside he hoped they were wrong.

Without a moment to lose, the group ran quickly towards the source of the sound, only to find five Shadows crowding around a figure on the ground, the figure using both arms as shields as the black creatures approached. Kairi took a quick glance at the feminine figure and then mentally cursed as she recognized the brown, oddly styled hair of her friend Selphie.

"Kairi, no!" A voice called out, but she did not heed it.

Almost instinctively, she extended her hand and relished the warm light that emanated as she summoned her own Keyblade. With a large swing, she sent her blade flying like a boomerang to strike at the creatures closest to her friend, all of them having seemingly forgotten Selphie and opted to stand there, yellow eyes transfixed on her Keyblade.

It was then that she realized her mistake.

As if on cue, several more Shadows began to flood into the street they had found themselves in, their bodies crawling as shadows on the hard pavement.

"This is bad!" Donald squawked, holding his staff tighter.

"I-I´m sorry!" Kairi apologized, though she realized that the damage was done. All she could do was stand protectively besides the brunette girl and help her up.

"Kairi?" Selphie said, looking up in surprise after hearing her voice. Kairi looked at her in uncertainty before turning to look at the advancing Heartless. She wanted to tell her what was happening, she really did, but this just wasn´t the time. "What´s going on? What´re those things?"

"There´ll be plenty of time to explain later." Mickey cut in before putting himself between the two girls and the monsters. "For now just get away from here, we´ll draw their attention, isn´t that right, Donald, Goofy?"

"Yes your majesty!" Both duck and dog answered simultaneously.

"Kairi, Riku, you two still have a job to do. We´re counting on you guys." The small King said, and the princess of the heart was glad to see that there wasn´t a trace of anger in his eyes from her slip up.

"Alright, let´s go." Riku said before giving one last look at the Disney trio. "Be careful, alright?"

"The same goes for you." The small King said with a smile. "Don´t worry about us. We´ll be alright."

The group departed; the two teens, followed by a still-rather confused Selphie, and Cid bringing up the rear, making their way through the pouring rain at a quick pace to make up for lost time.

"Hold up! Can anyone tell me what´s going on? What were those black things and why are they here?" The brunette girl asked as she struggled to keep up.

Riku took a deep breath before answering. "They are called Heartless and to put it as simply as we can, they are being created from the darkness in a person´s heart, once it is lost. They hunt for people´s hearts and that´s basically why they attacked you."

"Wait then what about the others? They have no idea, we have to go and tell them!" Selphie said, stopping.

"Selphie, where is everybody? Can you tell us what happened?" Kairi asked, trying to calm the girl down.

"Well these creepy black clouds appeared and everyone thought there was some kind of hurricane coming since the waves were getting freakishly big, so the mayor ordered an evacuation just in case. Everyone´s holed up in the school building now. We were all kind of worried since you, Riku and Sora never showed up. I thought that maybe you returned home, and since it's still pretty far from the shore, we decided to go look for-OH NO!" Selphie called out. "I came with Tidus and Wakka, but we got separated when the black things showed up. What if they are in danger? We gotta go look for them!"

"Kairi." Riku said, turning his blindfolded gaze towards her. Kairi understood what he was getting at. They needed to get a move on. There was no way they´d make it in time if they went off to look for the two missing teens. But at the same time, they just couldn´t abandon their friends either.

"I´ll go." Cid spoke up, surprising the others. "You two still need to finish up your mission ´n help Sora."

"Help Sora? Kairi, did something happen to him?" Selphie asked in worry.

"Yeah, and if we don´t move fast, then something terrible will happen." Kairi answered truthfully.

Selphie looked taken aback for a moment, before seemingly sobering up. " I´m sorry."

"It´s okay. There was no way for you to know." Kairi said.

Selphie rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, eyes still slightly downcast, before speaking once more to break through the uncomfortable silence that had settled. She was never really a gloomy person to begin with. "Well, thanks for everything. Just make sure to help Sora, he needs you more than we do. Besides, he´s our friend too. And Riku, you better make sure nothing happens to Kairi either, alright?"

"We will." Kairi said, making the brunette look at a blindfolded Riku.

The silver haired teen nodded once, reassuring Selphie. Afterwards, the group gave their final goodbyes and split ways, the girls waving at each other despite the lack of visibility from the pouring rain.

While Cid and Selphie headed inlands, towards the more populated part of the island where the school was located on top of a hill, Riku and Kairi headed towards the opposite direction, towards the pier where they would hopefully find a boat and towards the storm out at sea.

Luckily they encountered no Heartless on the way, which was something that they were infinitely grateful for.

_**´Maybe this is thanks to Mickey and the rest of the Disney Trio. By using the king´s summoned Keyblade to attract all the Heartless nearby, we can sneak by alright now.´**_ Naminé spoke up, her prolonged silence almost making Kairi forget that she was there.

_´You´re right, though I´m just happy that we are finally getting somewhere.´ _Kairi replied. ´_I don´t think I can use much magic at the moment, and neither one of us can call their keyblade or else the efforts gone to the decoy plan will be for nothing. Riku also can´t use his darkness, he already pushed it too. If we were to encounter a Heartless, we´d have no choice but to run, and even then it would be hard with all our injuries.´_

The group moved quickly, the rain pouring around them and mingling with the salty wind that sprayed them occasionally. Kairi felt her now soaked clothes begin to stick to her body in a rather uncomfortable manner, but decided to ignore it altogether. This was not the time to be thinking of comfort or vanity.

When they finally reached the pier, they were faced with another problem. The wooden walkway that extended outwards into the sea in a ´L´ shape, was not only difficult to traverse due the raging waves that slammed against it, and in fact, as kids one of the first things they were taught was to always watch your step on that aisle of wood, but also, there were currently no boats they _could_ use. Any and all boats tied up had been either removed willingly or forcefully from the small harbor, leaving only cut pieces of rope still tied to the wooden columns that kept the place standing.

_´It´s not like we could even use those boats. In this weather, it would be almost impossible to reach the island on a row boat like we usually do. But then, how else can we do this?´_ Kairi thought, raking her brain for answers.

"Kairi!" A voice called, startling her. At first she thought it was Naminé speaking in her mind, but then quickly realized that the voice was too deep and that it sounded too muffled by the roaring winds. Turning towards its source, Kairi was surprised to see Riku beckoning her over to a nearby shed.

"What´re you doing?" Kairi called over the noise as she saw Riku summon Way to the Dawn and point it at the padlock on the door. She was a little concerned to see her friend breaking into the shed, but her major worries were the waves of Heartless that would be pursuing them after sensing a keyblade being summoned.

The lock opened, falling harmlessly into the sand below. Seeing this, Riku quickly dismissed his weapon. "Trust me, I know what I´m doing."

The silver haired teen opened up the shed door, holding it open so that she could see. When her eyes finally managed to adjust to the darkness and see the object hidden within, they couldn´t help but widen.

"Wait, is this what I think it is?" Kairi asked as she looked at the blindfolded teen.

Riku just grinned.

* * *

Mickey ducked as a Neoshadow leaped at him, his smaller stature allowing him to remain unharmed as the creature´s body sailed right over him. Just a few minutes ago, the first Neoshadows had shown up, proving just how badly this world´s state was progressing.

Luckily, they were all holding out relatively well. They had really made the right choice when they decided to use less taxing attacks to take out the small fry. They weren´t even aiming to win really, their goal was to buy the others as much time and protection as they could by putting themselves in the eye of the storm.

"How´re you holding up, Donald?" Mickey asked and was answered by some unintelligible squawks. Despite all the years they´ve been together through thin and thick, there were still some rare moments where even he couldn´t understand what the duck was saying.

He assumed that he was doing okay.

"Goofy, ready?" Mickey said, facing his trusted knight.

Goofy nodded before running towards him with his shield up. Mickey mimicked him, only instead of a shield, he held the keyblade protectively before himself.

It was a strategy they had worked out. They were at a noticeable distance from each other, each surrounded by several heartless. By running at each other in that way, they were able to ´sandwich´ several Heartless in between, which then let Donald dispose of them with magic. This allowed them to take out large numbers of the creatures with a minimum amount of magic wasted; magic that could be used for healing instead.

"Gawrsh, they keep on coming." Goofy commented, making Mickey take a look around and frown as he saw their numbers. It wouldn´t do any good if they suddenly found themselves surrounded.

"Guys, let´s use our trinity attack!" The tiny king called out.

It was something they had devised sometime ago, only it was quite difficult to use unless a few specific conditions presented themselves. Luckily, the storm that had brought them such misfortune could now become an unexpected boon.

The trio quickly separated into opposite directions, creating a rough triangle in the middle. This was not like trinity limits which cause great amounts of damage in exchange for a lot of magical power. Instead, this attack was really more of a regular magical attack that became stronger through the joint cooperation of the three.

"Get ready…NOW!" Mickey called. All three raised their weapons up to the sky, though only the King and Donald seemed to charge their magic.

"Thunder!" The duck squawked, and in the middle of the triangle, a great bolt raced from the sky before dividing itself in three and arcing in the direction of the held weapons as if they were lightning rods.

Mickey´s keyblade glowed a hot white before two bolts shot off connecting directly to Donald´s rod and Goofy´s shield, which then connected as well, forming a complete triangle. With a quick movement, Goofy redirected the bolt that struck from the sky, creating a deadly, yet stunning field inside of the triangle that made every single Heartless inside evaporate into a black cloud of smoke.

It was quite simple really, while he powered up the attack, Donald would be the one to trigger it, and Goofy would guide it towards their enemies.

_´It looks like we were able to make a dent in their offense.´_ Mickey thought with some relief. _´I wonder how the others must be doing.´_

* * *

"TIDUS! WAKKA! Where are you guys?" The teen next to him called with a pitch that could have woken the dead. As it was, Cid was already starting to regret his decision to accompany this girl.

"Shhhh!" Cid reprimanded.

"But how are they supposed to know we are looking for them?" The girl, Selphie as Cid remembered her being called, said with a pout.

"If they´re getting attacked we´ll know, but for now I´d rather not have every Heartless on the island hearin us." Cid responded.

"Oh you´re right, sorry about that!" The girl said sheepishly. Cid was beginning to think that she was even worse than Sora.

"Whatever, let´s just get going." Cid said, doing his best to resist from pulling out a cigarette from his pocket and then lighting it. At least there was some silence now that the girl had stopped talking.

"Oh right, I never asked. What´s your name? I´m Selphie!" The brunette girl moving besides him asked, breaking the golden silence that Cid had been so looking forwards to.

"Cid Highwind." Cid answered.

"So are you a friend of Riku and Kairi´s?" Selphie asked.

"Yep. Sora´s the first one I met, though." Cid replied, thinking that he might as well satisfy her curiosity.

"Oh, so that´s why…" Selphie said, seemingly lost in thought. "I can´t help but feel bad for them. I really do hope Sora gets better. And having to experience all this must be really hard on Riku and Kairi, especially Kairi. I know I wouldn´t want anything to happen to my friends. Especially when close to such a happy date like my birthday."

Cid raised his brow at this. The girl was surprisingly smart despite the bubbly and seemingly ditzy exterior. He honestly had no idea that it was close to Kairi´s birthday either.

"Oh, I know this other guy called Cid, maybe you know him." The girl continued, making Cid´s new image of the girl nearly shatter.

"Oh, I highly doubt that." The pilot responded, but the girl had apparently drifted off from their conversation and was now humming to some catchy tune. Cid assumed that she was doing so as a way to calm her nerves. This unfortunately, grated his in return. "So, can you tell me where was the last place you saw your friends?"

Selphie looked thoughtful for a moment, but before she could even speak, they were interrupted by a loud scream emanating from the road to their left that almost made the girl trip and fall rear-first on the ground.

"That´s Tidus!" Selphie called out, regaining her balance before breaking out into a sprint. Cid followed suite, ignoring the fact that he couldn´t help but think that was probably one of the most irritating screams he had ever heard.

The two doubled their pace to reach the source of the sound only to find, much to Cid´s surprise, two teens, one older than the other and sporting the strangest hairstyle he had seen since Cloud´s. The younger teen, the one with dirty blonde hair and sporting a jersey and a pair of overalls with one leg shorter than the other, was currently fending off a group of Shadows with what appeared to be some kind of white and blue ball.

"Tidus! Wakka!" Selphie called out, grabbing each of the teen´s attention.

Both teen´s expressions seemed to brighten as their eyes landed on the brunette next to him. But seeing the Heartless take advantage of that distraction, Cid quickly joined the fray, brandishing his spear and cleaving through three Shadows with one swing.

"Wow." Both teens said as they looked at the display before them.

"Are you guys alright?" Selphie asked.

"We were looking for you. But these things attacked us, and then surrounded us. Lucky Tidus screams like he does or we´d be toast, ya?" The older teen said, laughing. The younger teen, Tidus did not look very amused.

"I didn´t scream, I yelled. That thing almost got to me had it not been because of my blitzball." The blonde said, crossing his arms.

"Anyways, you really saved us back there, mister." The heavily tanned older teen with the weird hair said before he extended his hand towards him. "My name is Wakka, and this guy over here is Tidus."

"Cid Highwind." Cid replied once more. He was really starting to wonder why he was always stuck with the kiddies.

"Hey, I´ve never really seen you around before, gramps. Are you from outside the island? How did you meet this guy, Selphie?" Tidus asked, turning his attention towards the brunette. At the mention of the ´G´word, Cid had to restrain himself or risk throttling the blonde brat. He was NOT old.

"He´s a friend of Riku and Kairi´s. He offered to help me come look for you guys." Selphie replied while the two teens seemed excited to hear about their friends.

"And now that that´s over, can any of you guys tell me how to reach this refuge place of yours?" Cid asked, his patience starting to run dry.

If the kids had just gotten attacked by Heartless, there was a chance that the rest of the townsfolk would be in danger as well. Besides, he was actually looking forwards to dropping these kids (who called him old) off and slaying a few dozen Heartless. He just knew that the King and the others were having a better time than he had.

At that moment, a massive bolt of lightning seemed to cut through the stormy sky from the direction they had come through, the whole earth shaking as it crashed with a loud ´boom´.

See? More fun.

"We should head back anyways, right? But man, I can´t say I´m really looking forward to it." Tidus said, giving a nervous laugh. "We are_ so_ dead."

* * *

Kairi looked in surprise as she saw the object in front of her.

"A jet ski?" The redhead asked, not truly believing what she was seeing.

"I´ve been working on it during my free time. Well, technically it isn´t mine, but given the circumstances, it´s not like we have a better choice, right?" Riku said before grunting as he began to push the small craft towards the raging sea. Kairi quickly made a move to go and help, but was stopped by the silvery haired boy. "No, that´s okay. I need you to keep watch and attack any Heartless that comes this way. They must be on their way already."

Kairi thought about protesting, thinking that it was only an excuse to keep her from doing anything, but then when the first pairs of yellow eyes began to appear in the shadows, she knew she was wrong.

In a way, it was kind of amazing how the Heartless could track a Keyblade that fast.

Summoning Destiny´s Embrace, Kairi quickly weaved through her foes while doing her best to watch Riku´s back as he continued to push towards the beach. It was difficult; it was something she had to agree. With every Heartless she defeated, two took its place, and that went to show in just how badly the storm was affecting their home.

She really hoped that the Disney trio as well as Cid and Selphie were doing okay. Her thoughts then turned towards the townsfolk, as well as her foster parents. Being the mayor, her father would likely be under a lot of stress. She didn´t even want to think about the fear and confusion that her mother and everyone else were going through.

_**´Cid will likely go and help once they find Tidus and Wakka. He has a lot of experience with Heartless invasions so I wouldn´t worry.´**_ Namine assured her. _**´And if anything goes wrong, King Mickey and the others will be closeby.´**_

_´You´re right. We just have to focus on this mission and get it over with as soon as possible.´_ Kairi realized as she slashed at three Shadows at once.

"Kairi, come on, let´s go!" Riku said as he gave one final push down the ramp that lead to the water, and followed suit.

"Coming!" The redhead said, before turning around to deliver a wide slashing attack at the Heartless, and the running towards the ocean and wading her way towards the jet ski. Riku offered her his hand to pull her up, which she gladly took, and once they were both settled on the small craft, Riku ignited the engine, which roared to life, though the effect was muffled because of the rain.

Kairi quickly grabbed onto Riku´s waist as the teen accelerated forwards, the waves mercilessly pushing them to and fro while salty water soaked them to the bone. The silver haired teen cursed as he tried to stabilize them both, though at this point, Kairi was wondering if it was really the best decision to let someone wearing a blindfold drive the thing through a rough storm.

But if Kairi thought they had just overcome the worst, she was dearly mistaken.

* * *

"Woah, more of them?" Tidus called out in surprise.

It had been a small uphill walk from the place that Cid had found the two teens to where the refuge was. In reality is was a normal looking school building that stood tall in a place that gave a clear panoramic view of the island. While the classrooms themselves did not appear to take up that much space (it did seem like a small town with an even smaller number of kids). Most of the space however, was taken up by a large gymnasium. Cid quickly assumed this was the place, not only because of the sealed doors, but also because of the Shadows and Neoshadows restlessly moving around the entrance, as if looking for a way to sneak in.

When one of them finally managed to slip underneath the door in that shadowy form that he so much disliked, Cid knew it was time for some action.

"Let´s go." The pilot said, not even waiting for the teens to follow (they were old enough and he refused to hold them by the hands like little brats).

He swung his spear in a wide arc, taking out most of the Heartless by the entrance, before breaking the double doors open with a strong kick.

He rushed inside and then guided himself through the empty corridors by the first screams that echoed eerily in the building. The pilot was vaguely aware of the extra sets of footsteps following him, which thankfully meant that he wouldn´t have to waste time and usher the teens inside. He knew that in this situation, every second counted. In fact, a second could very well be the difference between life and death.

The shouts became louder and Cid quickened his pace until reaching a room, one far larger than he had expected, that probably served as the school´s gym. It was filled with people, giving the place a cluttered look. If this really accounted for all the people on this island, then Cid was surprised that they had a school as big as this.

Well, maybe he was exaggerating. Radiant Garden did have many less inhabitants, but that was really more due to the fact that it was near inhospitable until about a year ago.

The crowd was clearly getting spooked, and Cid knew he would have to stop this quick. People tended to do stupid things when afraid, and when dealing with a town´s worth of frightened people, the possibilities for some unfortunate accident was only greater. Worst case scenario, the panicked people would attempt to run away and cause a human stampede; a _dangerous_ human stampede.

Cid quickly saw the Heartless responsible for the panic (it wasn´t very hard since everyone was running from it) and acted quickly, propelling himself into the air with a sense of grace completely unexpected from a man with his lifestyle, and dove downwards, his spear brandished to turn the creature into a smoking black kebab.

There were gasps from the people as they saw his sudden appearance. He admitted that maybe he did overdo it slightly, but hey, no one was harmed right? That´s really all that mattered to him. Still, feeling the whole room´s eyes on him was more than a little uncomfortable. He never did like being in the spotlight.

A man stepped forward from the crowd. He appeared to be in his early forties with a kind face that still gave the appearance of someone with a stressful job. And though the man was pretty none-descript by his standards (and really, with friends like his, it really did take a lot to create an impression on him), Cid was under the distinct impression that this was the guy in charge.

"You really defeated that black creature!" The man said as he stood in front of him and extended his hand in greeting. "On behalf of everyone here, I can´t thank you enough! "

"Glad to be of help. Are you the one in charge here?" Cid said, shaking the man´s hand.

"Yes, I´m the mayor of this town, Mr…" The man began , realizing that he didn´t know his name.

"Cid, Cid Highwind." The pilot replied. At that moment the mayor´s eyes landed on the three sheepish teens standing behind him.

"Ah, you seem to have found them as well. It seems we are really in your debt." The man said, before turning to face the three teens. "I don´t know what possessed you three to go outside at a time like this, but what I do know is that what you three did was both dangerous and very irresponsible. You should all go to your parents. They have been worried sick, you know."

The three teens looked down in silence as they continued to get lectured, and by the end of it, even Cid was feeling a little bad for them. Still, the mayor was right. Had he not been there, those three wouldn´t have stood a chance.

The teens said their goodbyes and thanks, before sauntering away, their expressions resembling those of kicked puppies, downcast expression and all.

Cid sighed once more. He would try to put in a good word for them since they _were_ trying to find their friends, even though doing it while completely unarmed was possibly one of the dumbest ideas he had ever heard.

_´I must be going soft.´_ Cid thought to himself before turning towards the mayor. This whole affair was not over yet, after all. "There are still some things we have to talk about. Do you think we could do it in private?"

The man looked surprised, but nodded and told him to follow. They ended up in one of the corridors he had passed through on the way in.

Once he was sure that there were no eavesdroppers, Cid spoke. " That black creature ain´t the last one that´ll appear, I can assure you that."

"I see…so I assume you are experienced in fighting them, correct?" The man asked and Cid nodded.

"The´re called Heartless and usually attack in numbers. I´d give ya the details, but there isn´t time. I would´ve told ya before, but I thought it was better to avoid causing any mass panic." Cid said.

"I see. It´s probably for the best too. Everyone is so tense right now." The man said before looking at him in the eye. "So, would you be willing to help us then?"

Cid smirked, fishing a cigarette from deep inside his pocket and lighting it. "You got it."

* * *

"How is everyone holding up?" Mickey asked as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

They had been at it for a while now, and the small king knew it was better to avoid overdoing it. All he really hoped was that the others managed to reach Play Island by now.

"We´re okay, but they just keep on coming!" Goofy said, panting slightly. Donald on the other hand was using his staff to support himself. His magical power had just about run out, and needed some rest urgently.

Mickey frowned. It looked like it was just about time to pull out.

A surprise attack from his side brought him back to the present, and the small king quickly brought up his blade to protect himself from the Neoshadow´s claws that were getting closer and closer. He braced himself for the impact, his feet standing firmly on the ground, only to pause in confusion as the attack never seemed to come. Looking up, Mickey looked on in surprise as the Heartless seemed to stop mid-attack and turn to look into the far distance, before actually fleeing in that direction.

"What the-?" Mickey said in confusion. Looking around, the same thing seemed to be happening to the other Heartless.

"What´s happening?" Donald squawked.

"Does that mean they are attracted to something else?" Goofy asked, a thoughtful look on his face.

Mickey´s eyes widened. "Come on, we have to follow those Heartless!"

The Heartless took on their shadow-like appearance and fled with the Disney trio hot on their trails. It was tough to track the shadows in the already darkened streets, especially since many of them seemed unable to decide on a specified location to follow. In fact, at one point when they were at a fork on the road, the Heartless seemed to head to different directions altogether.

Heartless were attracted to Keyblades above all else, so for them to flee from him meant that they probably sensed another Keyblade being summoned, one that they assumed would be easier to overwhelm than him. In this situation, it really only left two possible keyblade wielders; Riku or Kairi, and since both were supposed to be sticking together, then all these Heartless should be heading in the same direction.

Did that mean that Riku and Kairi split up? Or did it mean that they only summoned their blades for a short period of time? Maybe that's why the creatures couldn't pinpoint their location. But why head off in completely different directions? One of the roads, the one to their right seemed to lead towards the beach. Riku and the others would probably be down this road. The other path seemed to head towards the center of the island through a small slope.

But the question remained, which was the correct path? Maybe there was something else attracting the Heartless besides the weak signal of another Keyblade. But what else could it be?

_´What else do Heartless seek?´_ Mickey said. _´Obviously they search for hearts, but there would have to be a huge concentration of hearts somewhere around.´_

Looking around, the small king saw the ghost town that Destiny Island had become, and suddenly it hit him.

_´The townsfolk! They must all be taking refuge.´_ Mickey realized. _´That many hearts in one spot…there´s a chance that the Heartless are after those people. But which road should we take? Riku and the others might need help, but those people…´_

"What should we do, Your Majesty?" Donald asked.

Mickey gave a small sigh, before facing his two friends. "Donald, Goofy, I need you two to take the left path and follow the Heartless. If I'm correct then the townspeople are this way and will probably need your help."

"But what about you?" Goofy asked.

"I´ll take the path to the right. I have a feeling that the others went this way." Mickey said. "Now, let´s move out!"

"Yes, your majesty!" Both Donald and Goofy repeated with renewed energies, before the group split.

* * *

_That´s it!´ _

He let go of his worries and embraced the darkness that had entranced him into a strange sense of calm. At the exact time he also felt his body begin to sink, which was a strange sensation considering that, asides from the pain of his injuries, his body was completely numb. Above him, he could hear the swishing sound of Oblivion cutting through the air, and it was at that moment that he realized that he had been saved.

But it was not over yet.

Sora opened his eyes only to find darkness. His body felt weightless and his injuries almost felt as if they were being healed. He did not know if that was a fact, or just a result of the almost hypnotizing lull that this place had on him.

The keyblade wielder shook his head, he had no time for this. There was also no way he would allow to lose himself in this dark space.

He knew what he wanted to do, but had no idea how exactly he was supposed to do it. He assumed that by embracing the darkness, he would be able to literally meld himself in the shadows like his opponent did and how many other pureblood Heartless were able to. He had been right in that sense, but unlike his opponent, he really had no idea how he was supposed to now.

Sora looked around the dark space for an exit, but all he saw was endless darkness. The sudden fear of being stuck in this plane rose within him, and for a moment, the brunette feared that he had just done the equivalent of dodging a bullet, only to shoot himself in the foot.

_´There should be a way out. If only I could figure out what it was.´_ Sora thought, waving his arms slightly as if trying the swim. The darkness sure felt solid enough to move through. It felt thicker than water, almost as if he were swimming in a pool of pudding. Maybe he could even cut through it.

He didn´t know why, but he just had this huge urge to slash at the space before him.

Sora experimentally dragged one finger quickly through the space before him, and then gasped in surprise as a noticeable gash appeared, almost as if he had actually cut through the fabric that made this place. But seconds after it was made, the hole disappeared once more as if it was never there. He had only managed to catch a small peek, but he could make out a flash of silver and the very familiar platform he had been fighting on earlier.

_´Maybe if I focus on where exactly I want to appear…´_ Sora thought, picturing the small platform and the exact place he wanted to exit through.

Slashing at the darkness again, this time Sora leaped forwards as the portal formed. The sight of his opponent´s back greeted him, just as he had envisioned, and taking advantage of the situation, he extended his claws to attack.

Much to his surprise, and utter relief, his attack hit, making his doppelganger cry out before putting a hand over his side. Sora landed on all fours on the ground, his claws clicking noisily as he slid to a halt. His injuries did not hurt as much this time, which he attributed to some kind of weird after effect of being in that darkness. Maybe in this state it didn't hurt him, but rather helped him recover from attacks. It was a plausible explanation, but he knew he couldn´t rely too much on that darkness, or risk losing himself as well.

**I´m surprise you were able to figure it out.**

His final form´s smirk returned to its face, before it stopped clutching its side and let its hand hover over the injury. A green hued light emanated from his hand, and Sora gasped as the creature´s injury began to knit itself together until it was as if it were never there to begin with.

_´It can use magic as well!´_ Sora realized. He should have seen it coming. If this creature had taken all the abilities he had when in final form, then obviously it should have been able to use curaga as well.

Sora grit his teeth. This put him at a massive disadvantage. None of his previous foes seemed to have the ability to heal themselves and even if they had, they never used it.

**Oh, are you afraid?**

The creature said, swinging both keyblades in a wide arc in the same manner as before. Seeing as he had once again been caught by the attack without a chance of escape, Sora once again let go and felt himself quickly sink into the ground just in time for the blinding beam of light to sail over his head.

**You know, I knew you were rash, but I never expected you to be a coward.**

The Heartless´s distorted voice seemed to resonate within the darkness, making anger bubble from deep inside him, and a low growl rise from his throat. He was not a coward!

But what surprised him the most was the biting tone that his enemy used. It wasn´t the first time it had come up, but this was really the first time he had noticed it. It wasn´t detached like he expected from any other villain; no, its tone was bitter and personal, almost as if it had a long going grudge against him.

_´What´s its problem?´_ Sora questioned before putting the issue at the back of his mind. Why should he care about what the creature currently trying to kill him felt?

Especially when every time it opened his mouth, it only succeeded at pissing him off.

Sora paused for a moment, knowing or rather hoping that his enemy could not follow him here. With the newly revealed ability to heal himself, things had gotten even more complicated than they were originally, and that really was saying something. What was the point of even trying to inflict damage, if his doppelganger could heal itself?

**Where are you Keyblade´s chosen one? Come out, come out, wherever you are.**

Sora frowned, but did his best to ignore the distorted voice that even managed to follow him here. It was just baiting him, nothing more and nothing less. He had better things to do, namely, coming up with a strategy that wouldn´t get him killed.

The creature seemed to have so many advantages at the moment. Especially now that he knew for a fact that he could use every single one of his abilities. He, on the other hand, had just gotten a small grasp of what appeared to be one of his only abilities in this form. His only chance was to find a way to turn the tables in his favor, and _fast_.

Sora thought long and hard, his fingers moving absentmindedly around the darkness. It was surprisingly malleable once he really focused on what he was doing.

The keyblade wielder frowned. That alone would not allow him to defeat his enemy.

_´But maybe I really don´t have to defeat it. I mean, I do, but the most important thing right now is to make it so it doesn´t heal itself.´_ Sora thought. _´If only I could just undo this whole thing and return to my original form.´_

The idea hit him like a brick.

After all, if his foe could do it in his current form, then why couldn´t he?

Carrying out that plan was a lot more difficult than it seemed though. For once, his doppelganger really seemed to have a mastery of both forms, while he was just barely making it in his current one. His opponent was hardly injured when it switched places with him as well. While the throbbing pain of his injuries seemed to have lessened while he was here, the fact that he could only really move because he was currently on all fours wasn´t very comforting. If he was hit just once by a strong enough hit, it really would be the end of him.

Even if he was in optimum conditions, the chances of his foe just letting it slip were null. There was no way his corrupted final form would leave it´s guard open for an attack like that. Not to mention that with magic, the chances of using long ranged attacks were very possible. His only chance would be to wait for an opening. He would need to find a moment when it was vulnerable and defenseless.

_´Well, if it has all my strengths, then does that mean it has all my weaknesses_?´ Sora thought. ´_But, what are my weaknesses?´_

Sora had many weaknesses, that was something he knew. Unfortunately, none of those really seemed to fit with the situation. Not unless his doppelganger was as somewhat rash and meddlesome in other world´s affairs.

_´Wait a minute.´_ Sora thought in realization. _´Now that I think about it, why didn´t it attack me right after healing itself. It could have easily used a thunder spell or a blizzard spell to get me from that distance instead of wasting time and closing in on me afterwards…unless-´_

Sora´s eyes widened. That was it!

**Have you decided to flee? Don´t pretend you can´t hear me. You can't run away either. **

The teen decided to ignore his foe in exchange of piecing together his plan of attack. Now all he needed was a way to hinder his enemy, like maybe some kind of distraction…

**Your friends would be so disappointed. Actually, to even have you as their friend, they must have had it coming.**

Sora growled lowly at that mocking tone that his corrupted form used. He felt his anger bubbling inside of him like a volcano about to erupt, but did his best to calm himself down. Maybe this form just made him a lot more prone to anger.

But as it was, he still had to put his plan into action. It was risky, very risky, and at one point he would really have to go ahead and wing it, but if he could pull it off, then maybe, just maybe he´d have a chance.

**Especially that girl, Kairi was her name? Really, how dumb must you be?**

Sora´s claws tore through space before a loud ´clank´ echoed through the air as they collided with his foe´s keyblades. His corrupted form quickly prepared an attack, making Sora retreat rapidly by leaping into another portal, but before he could completely cross, the Heartless fired a blizagga spell that managed to strike painfully at his already injured foot and encase most of the limb in ice.

The Keyblade Master roared out in pain, but this time his agony was what kept him going.

Once more he exited, only this time from his opponents left, and once The heartless´s blades were poised to defend, Sora sank once more into a portal, proving that the attack was nothing but a feint, and then exited from its now exposed right to strike. His claws ripped through both the fabric and flesh, leaving a large gash on his opponent´s side, before Sora once more disappeared and reappeared, this time from the front to deliver a kick that made the creature lose its balance.

His corrupted form began to shoot off spells in an attempt to catch him, but Sora was too quick. He had been pushing his body to the limit and for once, it seemed to be working. To anybody else he was nothing more than a fleeting shadow, or a blur of black gone with the blink of an eye. The only evidence of him being there at all were the black wisps that seemed to remain.

**REFLECT!**

His opponent shouted in fury, but was cut off by a sudden kick to the stomach as Sora reappeared just beneath it, effectively interrupting the spell.

_´That could have turned very ugly._´ Sora thought in relief.

**Damn you.**

His foe said, his voice dripping with venom as he clutched his injuries. It held both keyblades before it, Oathkeeper glowing a bright greenish hue as it cast a healing spell on itself while Oblivion began to glow in preparation for some nasty attack.

Sora eyes widened before he vanished once more. He knew that he had to act NOW.

His corrupted form swiveled to face him as he exited the portal, Oblivion ready to attack, but it never expected to see him, palms outstretched as they were. It also never expected what came next. Sora roared as a blast of concentrated purple and black darkness shot off from his palms, scattering and swirling in front of his foe to blind him. His opponent swiped uselessly at the darkness that flocked around him like flies, while Sora took advantage of the moment to attack.

The teen quickly vanished into the darkness once more before emerging once again, only this time above his opponent. Sora extended his hand, another blast of darkness shooting out of it and hitting his opponent dead on. His foe went flying back a few feet, its grip on its Keyblades slipping, before it crashing on the ground, face gazing upwards.

This was it.

Sora dove down on his opponent, claws outstretched and ready. His opponent had already used it´s magic to heal; therefore if it shared the same weaknesses he had in that form, then it would still be a while until it´s magic recharged.

He seized the moment just as he seized his opponent's wrists, pinning it down forcefully against the black surface of the floor. His opponent struggled against his hold, but in their current position there was nothing it could do. Oathkeeper and Oblivion shot towards him, per his opponent´s silent request, but Sora was ready. The wisps from wrists shot forward, becoming thicker and more solid to shackle his foe to the ground, while the two inch claws of his right hand quickly found themselves on his opponent´s neck, just milliseconds away from a deadly attack.

The threat was clear. Move and you die.

**YOU!**

His foe hissed out, yellow eyes almost glowing with anger. Sora wanted to savor the moment for just a bit longer, he could have ended it there, but in reality, there were far more important things to do.

Sora concentrated on the darkness that now covered his being like a blanket before pushing that darkness off of him and onto his opponent, hoping with all his heart that this would work. It started slowly and with a bit with resistant, but once he managed to get the darkness moving like he did in the attack before, he realized that it wasn´t so hard.

The feeling was strange, to say the least. His first sign of change was the sudden shift of his vision from black and white to a spectrum filled with colors. It was almost overwhelming, despite there not being that many colors to gaze at. The second, but greatest change he felt, was the sudden return of feeling to his limbs. It was slow, almost like how his hands would be while being near the fireplace after playing in the snow for too long. He had never really paid much attention to his senses before, but now after feeling numb for this long, just being able to feel the warmth of his heart inside of his chest amazed him.

Sora looked down and saw the darkness moving down his arms and off of his body as if it were nothing more than the shadow of an object flying overhead or water running down his body. Soon, he was able to see the whites, blues, reds, and yellows of his clothes, just as the wisps on his wrists and back disappeared. It was with some strange fascination and joy that he saw the claws on his fingers shrink before becoming perfectly normal nails on perfectly normal tanned fingers.

On the other hand, the opposite seemed to happen to his foe, as it struggled under his grasp. Silvery clothes became sullied by black, just at the same time that Oathkeeper and Oblivion vanished from where they had fallen on the ground. Skin became covered in darkness and fingers became claws once more.

It let out a massive roar that startled him. Darkness seemed to shoot outward once the transformation was complete, forcing him to let go of his opponent and move back a safe distance, despite the pain that now came at him with full force.

**YOU!**

It repeated. Its Yellow glowing eyes opening as it snarled at him angrily, but Sora simply stood his ground, not in the least bit intimidated. If anything, he felt relieved and strangely at peace now. The newly rekindled flame inside of him burned brighter than ever. He knew he could do this.

Sora brought up both hands in front of him, some strange force inside of him compelling him to do so. There were a flash of bright light that made his opponent hiss angrily. Like always, it signaled the summoning of his Keyblade, its brilliant light showering him and his opponent.

This time however, it was different.

Instead of just one blade, Sora now held two. In his right hand he held Oathkeeper, the sign of his promise to Kairi and his link to the light. In his left was Oblivion, the sign of his bond with Riku, and his link to the darkness. Together they seemed to shine brighter and truer than any other light.

Sora calmly lifted Oathkeeper as a green light enveloped him to heal his various injuries. With his left, he poised Oblivion at his foe, ready for the battle ahead.

"Let´s go."

* * *

Cid sighed as he finished up the last of the preparations. The building was now a makeshift fortress with most of the people barricaded inside. He did not know if the Heartless would actually stay out, slippery buggers that they were, but at least it would buy them some time.

"Cid we´re ready." A middle aged man said.

He had taken all the able bodied men he could find and tasked them with setting up several traps around the building. He would have made them fight with weapons, but this world was far too peaceful. He doubted that any of these men knew how to fight outside of a friendly spar. The only makeshift weapons he could even picture using were fishing harpoons, or other fishing utensils, but unfortunately, they weren't even directly available within this building.

Cid sighed slowly as he took out a cigarette and lit it. They were depending on him for this battle.

Compared to Leon and the others, or rather, since they had become proficient enough to fight, he had taken on a more supportive role in their fight against the Heartless. That wasn´t to say that he didn´t know how to fight, but well, skills do tend to get rusty over time.

That wasn´t to say that Cid didn´t have a backup plan. He´d be crazy to go at this alone after all.

"Did you get it?" Cid asked the man.

"It´s right here." The man said, giving Cid the package.

Cid ripped it open and took out what appeared to be a small gun, or pistol from it. Aiming it at the sky, the pilot pulled the trigger with a loud ´bang´. The projectile flew into the sky before bursting forwards with a bright red light that illuminated the sky.

"Now let´s hope they see this flare." Cid muttered before mentally preparing himself for what was to come. He had a strange feeling that there was an important battle up ahead, and not just for him, either.

* * *

**Crystal: "Lol I'm pretty sure they saw all the smoke he puffed."**

**Canis: "Well they are in the middle of a storm." *ACHOO***

**Crystal: "Gesundheit."**

**Canis: *Sniffs* "Thanks."**

**Crystal: "Well there´s the chapter, hope you liked it, ´cause I'm not sure when the next will be. Predictions Canis?"**

**Canis: "Unfortunately, it could be a while. This semester is going to be hell and writing long chapters with decent quality is tough. Then there´s the whole correction process."*Stares at Crystal***

**Crystal: "So, sometime this year then. Please be patient with us."**

**Canis: "My next project will go smoother, I promise."**

**Crystal: "If I don't have a heart attack first from the massive word documents you send me XD."**

**Canis: "You won´t…I hope."**

**Crystal: "Hehe anyways, read and review please and we'll do our best!"**


	20. Final

**HH Chapter 20: Final**

**Okay, first of all, I want to apologize for the long absence. It was never my intention to disappear for so long, but real life in general has been pretty tough, not to mention my schedule just doesn't match with Crystal's, my beta. (there´s also a pesky 6-hour time difference) So yeah, bad news is that, because of that, beta-ing the chapter took longer. Good news is, not only is this possibly the longest chapter yet, but this is also the final chapter (well, sorta).**

**There will be an epilogue, and it will be posted in a bit. It's already beta'd so no worries.**

**To Chey: And I love reviews, thanks.**

**To Cheyenne: Thanks, it took awhile to write just so I could get the mood right (same with this chapter). Thanks for reviewing. **

**PS: Are you Chey? I couldn't help noticing how similar the names were, so in case you are, thanks for reviewing twice.**

**To Kai: I hope this answers your question. Thanks for reviewing!**

**On unrelated sidenote. Has anyone played KH3D yet? Such an amazing game! I was skeptic at first (I'm fighting a giant rainbow colored jack-in-the-box baboon? Seriously Square Enix?), but now I have to say it´s great. The story too, makes you feel like all separate stories are quickly converging. Not to mention that I was puking rainbows when I first played with my spirits (Ryu dragon is my absolute favorite until now). The Fantasia-inspired level had a similar effect on me.**

**Anyways, on with the story.**

* * *

Sora stood, unblinking eyes drilling holes into his opponent. Across from him golden eyes did the same, neither one of them daring to look away, if just for a second. Sweat dribbled down the brunette´s brow, tempting him to brush it off with the back of his hand, but Sora didn't move an inch. His muscles were locked in place, each tensed and ready to react at any given second.

The tension in the air was nearly palpable and the silence almost deafening. The time for words had long since passed. This was no longer the moment for taunts and banter. No time or energy could be wasted in unnecessary distractions. Both opponents knew that too much was at stake here and that the odds were now too even.

After all, they each knew the other's moves now. Their hands had been exposed down to the last card.

Sora tightened his grip on both keyblades, his sweaty palms not helping at all in his current predicament. He wasn't too sure of how he was actually able to wield both of them at once, given that he wasn't in any of his dual-wielding forms, but he certainly wasn't complaining.

The teen felt his heart racing inside of his ribcage, its rhythmic beats were so loud that he was almost sure that his opponent could hear them as well. The only thing louder was the sound of his breathing, which he subconsciously tried to control so as to not appear as tired to his opponent as he actually was.

Judging by the way his opponent's yellow eyes bore into his, it was clear that he had at least managed to convince the doppelganger that he would not go down without a fight.

The only problem was that he wasn't all that sure of how much fight he had left. Though the worst of his wounds were gone, he was still on the brink of exhaustion. Unfortunately, there just wasn't a spell for that. Adrenaline and sheer force of will were the only things that were keeping him going, but with this stalemate, even the effects of adrenaline was starting to wear off.

He was beginning to feel the strain creeping through every muscle in his body, his muscles starting to burn with more fierceness than ever before. For once, Sora truly hoped that they could get back to fighting as soon as possible. Maybe then, after it was all finally over, he could allow himself to pass out from exhaustion.

Unfortunately, at this point it looked like neither of them was going to take the first step.

Whatever smug façade that his opponent had was gone now, but since he still couldn't quite get a grip on his opponent´s current situation. In a rare show of precaution, Sora decided to wait for his opponent to move first. He had no idea what was going through his opponent's head, but whatever it was, it seemed to be thinking the same thing as him.

That would have normally been a good thing, since it would have given him more time to get his act together, but in this situation, all it managed to do was make him more antsy. He was running on borrowed time after all, he wasn't sure how, but somehow he just knew that his situation was worse than it seemed. Moreover, if there was even one tiny thing that he had to admit that he and most Heartless had in common, was that neither of them were too fond of waiting.

The wait was quite literally killing him.

Should he just get it over with and make the first move? Wasn't that what his opponent wanted?

When he really thought about it, there was just something odd and completely un-Heartless like about his opponent. It had yet to come after him like any other Heartless would have done. They acted on instinct alone, well, more like instinct with a clear lack of self preservation. Even if it was clear that they had no chance at all, a Heartless would still jump at the chance.

If that was so, why was this creature before him biding its time for the right moment to attack?

Why did it seem to have it out for him, for that matter?

As their names suggested, Heartless had no hearts, therefore, no emotions. But if that was true, then why did his opponent seem so bitter towards him. He had never seen anything like it during his adventures. The only thing he could compare it with was Xenahort´s Heartless, but even then its nature just felt all wrong.

Could it be?

_´Could the reason be… that it´s really not a Hear-?´_

Sora´s train of thought was brought to a sudden halt by a loud rumble and violent shake under him. In a moment of panic, the startled brunette dashed forward, destroying the momentary stalemate. His Heartless opponent dashed forward as well in response, claws outstretched and ready to shred anything in their way. Sora´s eyes widened as he watched the creature dodge the hit and nimbly sweep behind him, almost too fast for his eyes to follow. In fact, muscle memory was all that was keeping him in one piece since everything really was happening too fast for his mind to process.

In the last possible second, Sora pulled back his blades from the attack, bringing them closer to him for defense by turning around and blocking his opponent's slash. His attention was then quickly drawn to the roaring ground, specifically the large crack that formed under the weight of his foot.

The brunette jumped back in reflex, just in time for a sphere of dark energy to crush the spot where he'd been standing on only seconds ago.

It was then that the traitorous black ground beneath his feet shattered into large chunks and gave way completely, enveloping him in a wave of vertigo as his body became reacquainted with gravity.

A myriad of thoughts flashed through his head. What was going on? What was it with that tremor? Where was his foe? Why did he have to lose his cool in a moment like this? What would happen now?

**The end is here.**

* * *

Kairi gasped.

It was a near inaudible sound, especially within the storms´s roaring winds, yet Riku had still managed to hear, or rather, feel the distress coming from the only other passenger of the small watercraft. Briny water mixed with the sky´s downpour, making the waves around them rise wildly only to crash down more violently.

"Kairi, what's wrong?" Riku yelled so his voice could carry through the merciless gales.

"We need to hurry up, something's wrong!" Kairi shouted back. She had no idea how she knew, but she just had a horrible feeling, and she was usually right about these sort of things.

Riku half-turned to look at her strangely with one eye, or at least he would've had he not been currently blindfolded. Even so, the teen let his shoulders drop with a sigh. "Alright, hang on."

The redhead's eyes widened slightly in surprise, apparently Riku trusted her intuition to be correct. Or was it maybe that he felt the same? Whatever the case, the feeling of trust was mutual, otherwise, she would have never let him drive around like that. How he managed to steer them around so well with that dripping-wet fabric covering his eyes, was a complete mystery to her. He obviously had to be able to see somehow, right?

Currently they were nothing more than a tiny speck within the massive storm, making them infinitely grateful that Play Island was not all that far away from the mainland. Had they been forced to cross open water, then Riku would have never allowed such a trip.

'_Though we really don't have much of a choice now.'_ Kairi thought tiredly, and Naminé seemed to silently agree as well.

"Get ready, we're almost there." Riku said in a somewhat somber tone that caught her off guard.

Looking up ahead, the redhead suddenly understood why.

Several palms had been uprooted by the strong winds while pieces of wood and debris now littered the usually white sandy beach. The storm had really done a number on the island alone, and that was not even considering the damage that the Heartless surely brought. Even from here she could feel their presence on the island. Just thinking about them crawling all over their precious world sent shivers down her spine.

"The pier's falling apart, but I still think we can dock there." Riku called out with a frown. "Geez, they've really gone and done it this time."

Kairi stayed silent and nodded, her eyes downcast as she thought about the destruction of their home; adoptive home in her case, but home nonetheless. To think this was happening again was disheartening, but adding everything else that was going on, it was almost too much to bear.

Cold water splashed against her knees as they got off the vehicle and waded through the shallow waters towards the pier. It was, by far, the coldest she had ever felt the island´s waves. A tug of a rope and a strong set of knots later and the jet ski was on firm land while firmly bound to the remainder of the pier just in case. With waves as strong as these, they refused to let their only mode of transport be dragged and carried away just because of their lack of judgment. They knew just how strong of a force the sea was, and this was hardly the time for mistakes.

"Can you see the fragments anywhere?" Riku asked, making Kairi shake her head.

"Maybe we should head over to the paopu tree. If the fragments follow the same strategy as before it should be in a place with a special meaning for Sora right?" The redhead said.

"Alright, let's hurry." Riku said as they both took off towards the small patch of land where the bent tree was.

Unfortunately, it was not as simple as they thought it would be.

It was already dark enough with the thick clouds that blotted out the normally blue sky, but with the thick Heartless-infested darkness that seemed to cover the small island, the redhead was having enough trouble seeing her very own two feet. Even harder was trying not to trip over the fallen debris or fall through the gaps that now littered the wooden bridge that would take them there. Still, being as brilliant as they were, if the fragments were close by, they should have at least seen a glimmer of it, right?

"It´s not here." Kairi said in dismay. In fact, all that greeted them were harsh waves and fallen palm trees by the time they reached the small island. Their only consolation was that the paopu tree seemed alright except for its missing fruit and ripped leaves.

"You´re right. If it was here, we would have seen it on the way over." Riku said in frustration. "We're wasting time!"

"We couldn't have really known. It´s just too hard to tell in this storm. I mean, we could barely see two feet in front of us in it." Kairi said. "Let´s just calm down and think this through."

"Do you think they might be on the other side of the island?" Riku asked.

"I don't know. I mean, that's where we built the raft, but it made more sense for the fragments to be HERE instead."

"Well this is a small island, so there shouldn't be too many hiding places. I´d rather we do this quickly, too, since I really don't like this. The darkness is too thick over here." The teen said, and Kairi agreed. There was an eerie sort of atmosphere that sent shivers down her back and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"Just where is all this darkness coming from?" The redhead said walking forward as she rubbed her arms in a futile attempt to gather heat. It did nothing to change the fact that it was giving her the creeps. "Now that I think about it. Doesn't it seem odd that there aren't any Heartless around?"

"That´s exactly why I don't like it. I thought that maybe all of the Heartless were lured to the main island because of King Mickey, or just because there are more hearts present, but considering this amount of darkness, there really should be more Heartless present."

"Why here of all places though? Is it because of the fragments?" Kairi asked.

"Could be the storm, but most likely, it´s because we are closest to this world's key…hole." Riku said slowly, seemingly looking up just in time to meet Kairi´s gaze as they both came to the same realization.

"How could we not have realized this sooner?" Kairi admonished herself. "Come on, let's hurry."

"Kairi, wait!" The silver-haired teen shouted as he sensed the girl take off.

Dark shapes burst forth from the ground, making both teens bring up their arms to protect themselves from the strong gale that suddenly whipped at them from all angles. Kairi winced as she felt the sand strike her skin due to the strong winds, and once over, tried to open her eyes as the loud roars of what she once thought belonged to the storms, suddenly began to sound a bit too strange to her ears. Riku was yelling something, but whatever it was was lost to her. There was a huge black shape before her, but the image was blurry at best. Her senses were overpowered by the wind and sand that assaulted her. Even the darkness itself seemed to press down on her like an invisible force.

_**´Kairi!´**_ Naminé's voice that had been silent until now echoed in her mind with great urgency.

The redhead suddenly felt something hit her side with such force that she could practically feel the air rushing out of her lungs. Her body seemed weightless for a moment before a wave of pain erupted from her back as she felt her body strike against wood; splinters already digging painfully into her exposed skin.

"KAIRI!" Riku shouted.

The redhead opened her eyes and strained her vision, though her mind was still swimming. The cacophony of sounds were somehow lost to her, almost as if she had suddenly gone deaf. Then slowly but surely, the image began to clear, only to reveal a creature unlike she had ever seen before.

It towered over both teens with a hunched over figure and forearms that seemed disproportionate to the rest of its body, not to mention its demon-like wings. It´s form was completely black save for the yellow eyes that looked directly at her from beneath a fringe of dreadlocks that covered its face like a scarf. That, and the large heart-shaped portion of its chest missing, quickly hinted at the creature's nature.

Kairi then noticed the creature's outstretched hand. Had it been the one to attack her?

Whatever the case, it seemed eager to attack once more as its massive forearm was brought up slowly over its head and a violet ball of energy seemed to form in its wake.

"Kairi, get out of there, the Darkside's gonna attack!" Riku called out once more and Kairi gasped.

This thing was a Darkside?

She had heard about this kind of Heartless from Sora. It had been the one that appeared once darkness was at its thickest. It was the one that destroyed the islands the first time. It was the one found behind the door to the Realm of Darkness.

Kairi felt an invisible weight settle on her stomach as she realized just what kind of a threat they were dealing with and what exactly it entitled. There was no comfort from Naminé this time, as just like before, something seemed to be blocking her out.

The redhead scrambled to her feet, though her movements were clumsy from the pain. It was with growing anxiety that she realized that she would not be able to get out of the attack´s way.

The creature´s fist swung down, striking the place where she had fallen just seconds ago. Unfortunately, just as she feared, the attack didn't end there. Shadows formed from the ground, rising up from the thick darkness that marred the ground like a puddle of tar.

Kairi attempted to get up despite her protesting injuries; a feat that was made even more difficult by the viscous darkness that seemed keen on keeping her down. Even worse was the pair of Shadows crawling towards her, their glowing eyes looking at her with hunger. Luckily, she was able to wrench out one of her hands just in time to summon her Keyblade and lay waste to the small menaces. Unfortunately, this also seemed to draw the Darkside´s attention despite Riku´s attempts to distract it by throwing debris at it. It wasn't like it was doing any damage, but seeing as Riku couldn't use his darkness, and wasn't in the best conditions for a fight, it would have to do.

The redhead gritted her teeth and pulled away from the sticky mass, managing to free her other hand in the process. In front of her, the Heartless was already preparing its next attack, making her quickly attempt to scramble to her feet to avoid it. Once on her feet, Kairi realized that she was already too late. Setting Destiny´s Embrace before her defensively was just about the only thing she could do as the Darkside´s large forearm swung in her direction. This, of course, was as effective as trying to stop a hammer with a toothpick, she was quite aware of that.

Kairi braced for the pain but it never came, instead, there was a blast and an angry roar from the Heartless. Turning to look at what happened, Kairi was surprised to see Riku standing there, an uncharacteristically angry look on his face. His blindfold was currently hanging in one hand, revealing honey colored eyes that almost seemed to glow with annoyance. His other hand was currently outstretched and smoking, a few stray blue flames licking at his glove.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on her." Riku said, his tone low and dangerous. Kairi had only heard him use that tone a handful of times, and it was always when either Sora or herself were in danger.

"Riku!" Kairi said in worry. After all, despite the resolution her friend displayed, they was no mistaking that heavy breathing. He wasn't supposed to use his darkness at all, especially now that he was practically exhausted from their previous ordeals and such a power proved too unstable.

"I'll take it from here, you go find those fragments." Riku said with a dead serious look.

"You're exhausted." Kairi said, standing her ground stubbornly. Besides, it had been her fault she got attacked, if anyone should fight, it was her, not Riku.

"I've fought Darksides before, I can handle it. Besides, there's no time, you have to go NOW! Sora needs us!" The taller of the two said, though Kairi could easily pick out that tone he used when he was bluffing. He hadn't mentioned that he'd probably never fought a Darkside in his current condition before. Still, as usual, Riku was right. They were on a time limit and Sora needed them. That was more than enough to get her moving.

"Riku!" Kairi said as she charged her magic and after taking aim with her keyblade, shot off a fire spell that hit the Heartless in the face and made it tumble backwards with a cry of pain. "Take care, alright?"

Riku gave a certain nod making Kairi smile in return and dash off after dismissing her weapon. Shaking his head slowly, Riku gave a small playful grin at the girl´s antics. Seeing the monster trying to regain its footing, Riku turned a more serious look at his opponent before summoning his own weapon.

* * *

Cid considered himself a lot of things. A more than decent pilot. A capable man when it came to the use of computers. Heck, he even realized he may have a few unsavory habits. But if there was one thing he did not consider himself was old. That´s why it came as a surprise that, after going about seven or eight rounds with hoards of Shadows and Neoshadows, he was starting to feel short of breath. Usually, he could handle a lot more.

The blonde pilot turned to skewer one of the attacking Neoshadows before a thought occurred to him. Maybe it wasn't old age, maybe Aerith and the girls had been right in trying to get him to quit.

Cid scoffed as he ran his lance in a sweeping arc to dispose of five Shadows at once, his previous thoughts now sounding nothing short of ridiculous.

"What the hell was I thinkin'." The pilot muttered to himself. "Damn brats and their insistin' that I should quit smokin'."

He would show them.

"Hey gramps!" Cid heard a rather chipper voice call out. It was one of the brats he saved; Taid-us? Tee-dus? It was something like that.

"I ain't your gramps!" Cid called out gruffly. "Now what is it? Can't ya see I'm busy?"

Indeed, he had actually told the brats to stay put, not just once but at least a dozen times already. This one in particular was a bit more stubborn than the others. He was gonna be a real pain when he grew up, he was sure of it. Trouble magnets like him were easy to identify.

He had been so tired of the group´s whining that he had even given up at one point and just let them fight, and by fight, he meant taking care of the wounded Shadows that managed to slip past him. He'd hoped that it would make up for the lack of manpower. He was only one guy protecting a building filled with civilians against hordes of monsters that not only were attracted to hearts, but also had the ability to slip into the tiniest cracks by sinking into their own shadows.

To his great surprise, the brats were actually holding their own. In fact, they were doing better than some of the handful of able bodied men that were helping him out. They were nowhere near a level in which they could fight alone, that´s why he had them fighting as a group, but maybe with some training. Well, it would be interesting to say the least, especially considering their somewhat strange styles of fighting.

Wakka, the kid with the freaky hair, would attack by throwing a ball at his opponents. It would have been more logical to throw something a bit...well, sharper like Yuffie would, but judging by the way the Heartless were knocked back, the ranged attack was somewhat effective. The Selphie girl would attack with what appeared to be a cross between a chain and a jump rope. Where she got something like that would forever be a mystery to him, perhaps she found the chain on the ground somewhere? Finally the blonde kid, and the current bane of his existence, was attacking with a sturdy metal pole he must've found lying around. He had been using a wooden sword up until a bit ago, but it must've snapped somewhere along the way. If he had to be honest, he found it a bit comforting. At least they weren't giving the kids real metal swords.

Surprisingly, none of the adults seemed to mind that their kids were fighting monsters, but then again, just looking at Sora and the others, he shouldn't have been surprised at all. Adults here in this world sure had a rather loose leash policy on their kids.

"There´s this weird vortex thing in the sky." The brat said, making the blonde pilot narrow his eyes.

"Show me."

Cid quickly wiped out the remaining shadows and followed the teen to the building's rooftop and current crow´s nest. From there one was able to get a pretty good vantage point on the entire island, even with the dark storm raging about. There, it was easy to see what the teen was referring to. Off shore and right above this smaller neighboring island was a large spinning vortex forming. Now, from his personal experience with such phenomena, this was either a really good thing or a really bad thing. Unfortunately, based on the current context, he was inclined towards the latter.

"What can you tell me about that island over there?" Cid asked, his eyes not straying once from the vortex.

"That´s Play Island. I really hope it´s alright. We practically spent our entire lives there. Best memories of our lives." The blonde said wistfully.

Cid cursed loudly. This was definitely a really bad thing.

"Hey, there´s another wave of monsters coming, ya?" Another voice called with urgency. It was the teen with the strange hairdo.

Cid looked over at the island before cursing once more. Darkness seemed to be gathering at two points, over here at the building, and now over there at that island. He had a gut feeling that one of the keyblade wielders was fighting there. If that was the case, then this was not good for the mission. What´s worse is that he couldn't just go off and leave these people unprotected. In fact, with another wave coming, they would be the ones in danger. They were clearly outnumbered and supplies were running low. They had been rather low to begin with, considering the peaceful nature of this world.

If they didn't get any reinforcements soon, he could not guarantee the safety of any of them. He'd thought about evacuating them all on the Shera, in fact he would have much rather done that then stay put and defend since he knew he'd be outnumbered. It just so happened that such a thing was impossible right now considering the current state of his beloved ship. Even with the ship, the weather alone would be enough to make any sane pilot decide to stay on land; not that he was just any old pilot. He knew the extent of his abilities and would've done it anyways. He just hoped that someone would answer quickly to his emergency flare.

The blonde pilot ran back towards the main entrance. He'd left the building unattended for some time, and if the teens were right, then a wave of Heartless would be arriving any second now. Methodologically, and almost automatically, he began to check himself for any injuries before the fight; several small cuts and scratches on his skin, those were nothing to worry about, a scratch on his arm from a sneaky Shadow, mostly superficial so it could wait, three long gashes on his back from when the enemy decided to overwhelm his blind spot, another scratch running down his lower leg from a stronger Neoshadow, this one a bit deeper, but had quickly stopped bleeding after drinking a potion. It was still causing him to limp slightly, which could turn pretty ugly later in a fight. That one was a greater cause for concern. There was also the pain coming from his left arm and back. He was almost sure that he pulled something when trying to get a literal pile of Heartless off of him with his spear.

With no healing potions on him at the moment, he would have to be a lot more careful from here on out.

All those thoughts came to an abrupt stop the moment he reached the entrance. What he found there wasn't a mere wave of Heartless, no, it was a whole army of them. Hundreds of yellow eyes stared back at him and Cid cursed loudly.

"Get back inside." Cid said, his voice completely serious as he addressed the blonde haired teen that had followed him there. Said boy said nothing, shock leaving him speechless and frozen on the spot like a deer in the headlights.

"Go warn the others NOW!" Cid called out again, his tone seemingly snapping the teen out of whatever shock he was in, and making him dash back inside the building.

Cid tightened his grip on his spear as he studied his opponents. It would not be easy, in fact, it seemed like it would not longer be a matter of how wounded he would be by the end, or rather, how much time he would be able to withstand. If they all decided to attack him at once, then he had little hope. If by some miracle, they decided to wait their turn, then maybe, just maybe he'd be able to make it until help arrived.

The pilot widened his stance to one he was most comfortable in. Thunder boomed close by while lightning temporarily blinded him. All at once the Heartless pounced.

* * *

Leon was not a prideful man, at least not excessively. In fact, anybody who knew him could swear to Kingdom Hearts that they had never seen the stoic man openly boast. Even so, if there was one thing that the man was silently proud of was his ability to cope with things when under pressure. That wasn't to say the others couldn't deal with hard circumstances such as these; they could do so just fine. The greatest difference was that, as unspoken leader of the HBRC, a group that was in turn responsible for the well being of all of this world's inhabitants, Leon was under a lot more pressure than his other colleagues.

By pressure, of course, he wasn't just referring to the dozen or so Heartless currently trying to smother him.

The invasion had already begun, and though he knew he had an important duty, he couldn't help but feel like he had picked the shortest straw. While Cid would normally be the one tasked with holding down the fort while he was out in the front lines, seeing as the blonde chain-smoking pilot wasn't currently in this world and everyone else was either busy or out of reach, Leon had no choice but to take the position himself. This meant not only sticking to the Borough, but also coordinating everyone's actions, overseeing the town´s innate defense, protecting Sora, and also stopping the Heartless that continued to pour into the area in numbers that seemed almost ridiculous.

_´Though I guess it´s somewhat logical. Not being in the front lines to stop the Heartless means a lot more are going to slip by, even if the others are powerful in their own right.´_ The brunette thought as he swiped his gunblade in an arc and struck at the offending Heartless.

It still didn't change the fact that he was grossly overwhelmed.

He could deal with the Heartless. It'd be tough and he would most likely get more than a few scratches, but in the end, it was still within his range of abilities. Doing all those other things simultaneously, particularly trying to defend Sora, now that was impossible. It wasn't like he had eyes in the back of his head to keep track of everything.

_´Speaking of which.´ _Leon thought irritably as he swung his blade towards another group of Heartless that were sneaking into Merlin´s house through the broken window. He'd have to repair it later, but for now, there was a swarm of attacking Heartless that required his immediate attention.

The brunette swordsman dispatched another small group of Shadows, only to wince as a Neoshadow took the chance and managed to rake its sharp claws over his already sore back. As uncharacteristic as it was for him to fall prey to an attack from what he considered lower-tier Heartless, he was currently preoccupied, not to mention outnumbered and still injured from that rather intense fight against Sora. Slowly, but steadily, he knew he was losing strength.

In short, what they currently faced was what his strategic mind recognized as a war of attrition. What´s worse was that it was actually working. It was brilliant really, and there was nothing he could actually do to stop it.

Leon hissed once more as he was greeted with another slash, this time on his calf. he disposed of the Neoshadow quickly, but it was quickly replaced with another three Heartless.

_´They are getting too cocky.´ _The swordsman thought, narrowing his eyes. _´No, it's more than that. These Heartless aren't just cocky, something's agitating them.'_

As soon as the brunette reached that realization, he was snapped out of those thoughts and into a defensive stance by a sudden alarm coming from inside the house, followed by a violent shock wave that rocked the Borough. Leon shielded his eyes as what glass remained from the windows of the nearby houses suddenly shot towards him from the impact.

_´What the-!´ _Leon thought in alarm as he quickly turned toward the new possible threat.

He almost felt his heart stop when he saw darkness literally pouring out of Merlin´s house. What had just happened? Had the Heartless managed to slip right past him while he was busy fighting? Those were questions Leon would have normally asked himself, but instead, there was only one thing that came to mind.

_´SORA!´_

Leon quickly rushed towards the house, ignoring his previous foes, or the fact that they seemed to be actually retreating. He didn't even bother with the closed door, planning instead to enter through the large gap in the wall where the window had been. His plan, however, was cut short when a low animalistic growl made him stop right in his tracks.

Instantly his mind supplied him with two facts; first of all, neither Shadows nor Neoshadows made a sounds like that EVER, second and lastly, there was now a pair of yellow glowing eyes staring right at him from the darkness.

Leon had quite literally less than a second to bring up his blade in time to block as claws as dark and sharp as obsidian collided against it.

The swordsman got one good look at his attacker and cursed loudly. A figure whose silhouette was so familiar to him, yet at the same time so wrong. A keyblade wielder that was now toppling over the brink of darkness. Clothes were the same, if not torn in certain parts and now stained black. Hair was still spiky, but drooping low, most likely from the feverish sweat still on his brow and days of neglect. Skin was a mess of black with only bits and pieces of his normal, albeit somewhat currently pale, skin showing; a purple scar-like pattern pulsing with darkness right where his heart was.

His now yellow eyes held no form of recognition, and Leon was quick to notice the heavy breaths that left through the jagged bear trap that was his mouth. Even more worrying was the black substance that seemed to be dripping on the cobblestones below. The brunette silently hoped that it wasn't his blood.

Leon took a deep calming breath to steady himself. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't disturbed. In fact, he was really just wishing this was all some kind of nightmare he would wake up from, but he knew it was just wishful thinking. His back was hurting terribly and rather vividly, and that didn't happen in dreams, did it? Even though this felt like something directly out of his nightmares.

The creature that was Sora, but at the same time wasn´t, made a move to attack again, and Leon could only find himself blocking instead of retaliating. He told himself that if things were ever to reach this level, he´d act accordingly and just treat Sora like another threat, only things were clearly easier said than done.

He was suddenly frozen in the threat of heart-crushing despair. Was this it? The mission was over? They had failed?

The swordsman blocked again, noticing that Sora´s actions were slower and weaker than before. Even more of that sludge-like black substance seemed to drip off of him like a wound.

Leon was conflicted. What should he do now? What could he do now? Neutralize? Immobilize? Could he even do it in his current state? Would it make a difference?

Sora gave a low growl before attacking once again. Five clawed digits were swung in his direction, making the swordsman block accordingly like in any other fight, and later automatically move on to retaliate with a slash right to the midsection that could easily slice a Heartless in two. This time however, Leon just couldn't bring himself to do it.

He knew this meant receiving a direct attack from those deadly claws. He knew it would probably mean losing this fight, maybe even his life if it came to it. Even then, he knew he could never attack Sora in such a way. Heartless or not, he could still see the brave, adventurous, and even a bit silly brunette he had come to consider as a friend, a little brother even, though he would never admit it. He knew using such a move would cause nothing but regret for the rest of his life.

_´We may not meet again, but we'll never forget each other, eh Sora?´ _Leon thought as he waited for the inevitable explosion of pain that was to come.

To his great surprise, it never came.

Instead, the swordsman looked on with a mixture of shock and confusion as a crystalline dome surrounded him from all sides, thus protecting him from the attack. Sora´s attack struck the dome which shattered from the force and exploded outwards, forcing the possessed Keybade wielder to jump back to avoid the flying shards. Sora landed on all fours hissing angrily while more of the black liquid dripped onto the ground, this time also from the small cuts from the few shards that managed to hit their mark. This time rather than attacking, the teen bared his fangs and arched his back not unlike a wounded animal.

It was at this point that Leon saw his body begin to glow in a faint green light, and felt his injuries slowly but steadily heal. Turning to look at the one responsible, the brunette´s gray eyes landed on a rather unexpected newcomer.

"Aerith!" The man said in alarm. As far as he was concerned, the pink clad woman was supposed to be healing the injured civilians in the refuge near the town square and not putting herself in immediate danger like she was right now. Even with that staff of hers, things were simply too dangerous. "What are you doing here?!"

"I saw the Heartless running away, and when I felt that thick darkness coming from here, I obviously got worried." Aerith said.

"You shouldn't have come." Leon said with a tired sigh.

"Is that the thanks I get for saving you just now?" The woman admonished, hands on her hips, and an almost maternal tone to her words.

"I am thankful, it´s just that this isn't exactly the best moment to express it." The brunette swordsman said shaking his head. "Tell me Aerith, what´s wrong with Sora?"

The young woman looked at the possessed teen with a sad look. Leon knew it must have been particularly hard for her, knowing just how motherly she was, and how she'd been the one to monitor his steadily worsening condition during all this time. Seeing Sora in that state, snarling at her like some wild beast, must have been heartbreaking.

"His time has almost out. His heart has almost become completely overrun by darkness." Aerith said sadly. "Sora is neither human or heartless at the moment, but if he continues pressuring and overexerting his body like that, he won't last any longer. We have to stop him from hurting himself."

"Just give it to me straight; you're the expert here. What are his chances at the moment? Is Sora still even there underneath that?" Leon asked, and to his dismay Aerith stayed silent.

After a painfully long pause, the woman replied.

"He´s barely there, though I am not really sure if it is really him, anyways. There´s great turmoil inside of him. That I can feel just fine. There seems to be a weak force currently holding him together. If not for that, Sora would be lost to us completely."

"What kind of force?" The swordsman asked as he stared at the Keyblade wielder,almost as if by just staring at him the answers would come to him. Like Merlin, Aerith had a rather rare gift to understand these things, so hopefully she had a lot more insight than him on the matter.

"I...I think it's Roxas. I can feel a bit of him, but not Sora. It´s like he is doing all in his power to keep Sora together. He´s like the pillar that´s keeping Sora's heart from collapsing, and the one and only link he currently has to us, even though he seems to be too deep within Sora to take proper control." Aerith said with a bit of hesitation before shaking her head. "We have to stop him without causing any stress to his body. The more we fight, the faster we lose him."

Leon cursed slightly, his own theories somewhat confirmed by the brunette. Roxas really was buying them time, but even so, things didn't look so good. After all, how exactly were they supposed stop Sora without hurting him in the slightest. Even using reflect spells, like those Aerith used before to defend themselves, would still hurt Sora. He was hardly able to survive the fight earlier and somehow they were supposed to pull off something like this?

"So how do you propose we do that?" Leon asked with a hint of irritation. A few feet away, Sora was already getting quite a bit agitated. He wasn't sure if it was because of the darkness or his injuries, but whatever the case, it looked like their short drawn stalemate was about to end.

Moreover, it looked like he had already identified Aerith as a new threat.

"I think I can pull it off with a spell, but i need some time for my magic to recharge." The flower girl replied.

"How long?" Leon asked warily as he saw Sora lower his head and coil his muscles in a crouch like a cat about to strike.

"Give me five minutes." The girl replied as she put both hands out in front of her and closed her eyes in concentration.

It was then that Sora pounced. Whether it was because he sensed she was the weakest physically, or because wielding magic made her more dangerous, the fact remained than in less than a second Sora was already leaping at the pink clad woman with claws outstretched.

Quickly responding to the threat, Leon put himself in front of her and blocked the hit with his gunblade, making the Keyblade wielder use the weapon as a lever to kick off into the air and shoot off a series of fiery dark spheres towards him. Realizing that he could not possibly block them off as it were, Leon poured his power into his gunblade, making it shine blindingly and elongate, before swinging it in front of him to intercept each and every shot.

Sora crouched down once more with a hostile hiss, his muscles once again tense and ready for an attack. With the possessed keyblade wielder's attention now completely on him, the swordsman dashed forward, putting as much distance between him and Aerith as he possibly could. Seeing what could possibly be taken as an attempt to attack, Sora pounced once more, only to be intercepted by the large glowing blade. Sora jumped back once more, repeating the same strategy as before. Leon acted accordingly and blocked the dark spheres that came toward him as expected, only this time there was something he completely overlooked.

The last attack was only a distraction.

Leon looked for his opponent, only to see Sora vanish before his eyes. Pain then exploded from his back as the swordsman felt the teen's black claws rake across his back. Leon heard a gasp coming from behind him,where Aerith was, but ignored it in favour of the fight raging between him and the keyblade wielder. Acting quickly, the swordsman swung his sword forcing back his friend turned foe. His wound hurt horribly with the movement, but luckily he wouldn't need a healing spell for now. It wasn't like they could spare it at the moment either. Aerith needed all the concentration she could muster on this spell, and using a healing spell now would only drain all her power once more.

"How much longer?" The swordsman asked as he continued to trade blows with Sora. It already felt like an eternity had just gone by.

"Just a bit longer, hold on." The pink clad woman said, her look one of complete concentration.

Leon struggled to buy time, but he was finding it increasingly hard. Especially when he couldn't actually fight back properly in fear of hurting the teen.

Sora swung his right arm at close distance, but again, the swordsman only managed to figure the ruse out a minute too late and got a rather deep and painful scratch for his troubles.

"How about now?" The brunette asked with a grunt as he was forced to block while wielding his blade single handedly.

"Nearly there...and NOW!" Aerith called, making the HBRC leader jump back or risk getting caught up in the spell's range.

Haze and bubbles appeared suddenly right where he'd been fighting seconds ago, and though the possessed keyblade wielder attempted to escape, it was already too late. The spell quickly took effect and the hissing teen suddenly dropped like fly, making both adults let out a sigh of temporary relief.

"Let´s get him back inside. He´s asleep for now, but it won't last long." Aerith said as she quickly began to apply healing spells on Leon´s wounds. "We need to have a proper barrier set up to restrain him by the time he wakes up."

"Thanks." Leon said before looking up to the black stormy skies. "I guess we're lucky that you know this kind of magic."

"Merlin...well, he thought I would need it since I am not much of a fighter." The flower girl said as she finished healing the worst of the damage.

"Seems he was right; about that and a lot of things." Leon muttered as he walked up to the fallen keyblade wielder and gently picked him up, doing his best to ignore Sora´s labored breathing and the black tar-like liquid that dripped down onto his arms. "The others had better get here soon."

The had won this small battle, but it sure didn't feel like it. The battle was over, but would they win the war?

* * *

Riku grunted as the Darkside´s arms connected with his middle, sending him sprawling backwards. In a normal fight, it would have been fine, but he was at his very limits. His body protested his every move due to a mixture of overexertion, injury, and exhaustion; his continuous lack of sleep this past week, and continued battles, particularly the one he had not even begun to recover from in The World That Never Was, were finally rearing their ugly heads in.

That´s not even mentioning his lacking control over his own darkness. With every passing second he was finding it harder and harder to control it. It was like trying to grab hold of a kite string during a hurricane. He honestly felt like he would snap at any given moment.

Even so, he would struggle to persevere. He would not let down his friends again like he had in the past. He trusted that Kairi would find the fragments soon too.

Riku looked up at the stormy sky and took a long steady breath, before brandishing Way to the Dawn and charging at his opponent.

Everything was quickly coming to a close.

* * *

Kairi ran as fast as she could, her heart beating wildly within her chest and her lungs begging for a break. Her clothes had been soaked thoroughly, making goosebumps form on her skin from the chill. The redheaded girl ignored this, however. She had a more important goal to accomplish, and with Riku putting himself on the line to buy more time, she didn't have a second to waste.

Shadows and Neoshadows burst forth from the ground, forcing the teen to dodge and quicken her pace. She didn't want to summon her keyblade and attract even more. Stopping to fight an endless battle would only make her lose precious time.

Kairi finally reached the small entrance to the secret place. It was a small thing, hidden away from curious eyes by a rather large bush that had only grown in the past couple of months. Getting down on her knees, the redhead began to crawl through the small opening and into the following tunnel.

The teenager blew the wet hair out of her eyes, her arms and knees doing their best to move through the damp earth despite her snail like pace. Admittedly, this would have been a lot easier years ago. Heck, when she had first been shown this place, all she needed was to crouch in order to get in.

A noise brought her out of her musings, and Kairi looked back towards the entrance of the tunnel, only to gasp as she saw shadows on the ground approaching quickly. Thinking quickly, the teen quickly extended one hand toward the entrance and charged her magic as fast as she could. She still had problems with this particular spell, but considering what was happening she really had no choice but to cross her fingers and hope it worked.

The temperature inside the tunnel dropped a few degrees, and Kairi then released the spell. Rather than aiming for the Heartless, the spell hit the ground between her and the dark creatures, forming a thick wall of ice.

_´It should hold just long enough for me to get in and get the fragments.´_ Kairi thought to herself, somewhat expecting the lack of response from her former-Nobody counterpart. She had not been able to communicate with Naminé for a while now; something she attributed to the dense darkness covering the islands.

Crawling forward, Kairi quickly made her way through the tunnel, her pace only quickening when she the dark silhouettes on the rocky walls, formed by what she knew had to be a rather strong source of light.

Finally reaching the end, the redhead quickly got to her feet and looked up, her eyes widening as her mind tried to process the view before her.

Heartless, dozens of them swarming around the fragments like moths around a flame. That is, if those very same moths were about to hungrily devour said flames.

Kairi wasted no time. Extending her hand, seeing that there was no other way, the redhead summoned Destiny´s Embrace and charged at her foes.

"GET AWAY!"

* * *

"About time you two show up." Cid yelled through the sound of battle.

"Hey, at least be grateful!" Donald squawked angrily in response as he readied another thundaga spell like before.

Cid was grateful, though he'd never admit it. He'd also never admit just how many types of screwed he had been a few minutes prior when all of those Heartless attacked at once. Luckily the thunder he´d thought was from the storm turned out to be a thunder spell that wiped out the leaping monsters, giving him just enough time to intercept the ones that had followed afterwards.

As it turned out, the cavalry had arrived in the shape of King Mickey and his personal guard.

"Where're the brats?" Cid asked as he swept his spear in an arc, disposing of several weaker Shadows.

"Riku and Kairi went ahead to find the fragments. If I'm right, they'll probably head over to Play Island." The small king said as he dodged a direct hit from one of the Heartless.

"You mean that piece o' land over yonder, currently in the eye of the storm?" Cid asked, his head turning in the direction of said island.

"That would be the one." King Mickey said, giving a tired sigh as he disposed of a Neoshadow with a small blue sphere of magic. "We'll just have to trust in them for now. There is little we can do anyways."

Cid gave a snort. Yeah, cause it wasn't like they currently had their hands full as it was. Not. One. Bit. Luckily, it seemed like they were slowly making a dent in their enemy's forces. Their greatest priority right now was protecting the civilians.

"There´s still too many." The pilot said gruffly, even if Donald and Goofy were plowing through their enemies with both physical strength and magic.

"I´ll go drawn them away. You guys go and protect the people!" King Mickey ordered, before summoning his own keyblade and running off, a great portion of the enemies right on his tail.

Cid let out a string of curses as he slashed and impaled his enemies with his lance.

"Those kids better be fine."

* * *

Sora was falling, falling deep into the abyss, deeper than he had ever been. He saw nothing beyond what little light his keyblades provided him. In his firm grip he continued to wave them around, blocking the continued attacks from his doppelganger. Up, down, left, right, the creature attacked relentlessly. Given his opponent's skills and his current position, there wasn't a single place where he was relatively safe. Its attacks came from all around him, preceded only by a brief flash of yellow.

Pain blossomed on his side and Sora knew he had just missed his cue. He didn't have eyes in the back of his head, how was he supposed to know? He waved Oathkeeper towards his enemy only to cut through the heavy darkness. He felt the resistance it provided. Cutting through this thick darkness was just about as effective as cutting through water. Not to mention that his opponent was fast, _very_ fast.

It was disorienting. If it weren't because of the horrible weightless sensation on his stomach, he would no longer even know what was up and down. He didn't even know if his fall would ever end. All he knew was that one glance at those eerie yellow beacons that the creature called eyes, and he needed to swing his sword, or block, or do something, _anything_ to stop the attack.

_´Easier said than done.´_ Sora thought in a mixture of frustration and desperation as he tried to block a hit, only to fail and wince as his opponent´s dark claws grazed his shoulder.

There were very few times in his life that he had ever felt so overwhelmed and utterly defenseless. When the islands were first swallowed up by darkness, when he got stranded in Hollow Bastion with only a wooden sword to defend himself, when fighting against Xenahort´s Heartless, and later Xemnas. But asides from the start of his adventure, in all other moments he had at least some form of help; there was always someone there to watch his back.

With the fact that he was practically blind with all this darkness, and had no real way of fighting from his position, it looked like the odds had tipped in his opponent's favour.

Pain exploded once more, this time from his leg, making Sora grit his teeth or risk crying out in pain. He was over the fact that, even though he'd always have his friends inside of his heart, there was no one here to physically help him at the moment.

The brunette quickly retaliated with a swing of Oblivion and it was with some grade of satisfaction that he felt his attack hit with a dull 'thunk'. His only consolation was that unlike before,he had a pretty good idea of what he was dealing with now, even if he was still at a disadvantage. If he could strike him, then he could still beat him.

There was another flash of yellow, but it disappeared as soon as the Keyblade wielder had his guard up. Sora´s eyes widened in realization; it was a trap, but before he could react accordingly, he felt something tackle him from the side, sharps claws attaching themselves to his shoulders painfully. Sora cried out in pain, before moving on quickly for a counterattack.

"Get off!" Sora called out, using the last of his magical reserves to summon up a ring of intense flames. He heard a howl of pain coming from his opponent as the scorching flames surrounded him, and the creature´s grip on him was released.

The teen narrowed his eyes, the light from his own attack almost blinding him. His enemy however was not as lucky; a fact that Sora quickly used to his advantage. Grabbing his opponent's foot, Sora used his own momentum to swing its body forwards, before summoning his keyblades back to his hands and diving down towards the Heartless. The creature before him let out a cry of pain as his brandished weapons, Oathkeeper and Oblivion, struck simultaneously.

Though his doppelganger was sent flying backwards, it recovered in midair and growled angrily before clawing through the darkness and disappearing into a rift. Sora quickly turned around, predicting his enemy's actions and intercepted the strike with his keyblades, before it had a chance to strike his back. He had fallen for that trick before, and he wouldn't repeat the same mistake again.

"Not today!" Sora grunted angrily as the Heartless tried to sweep behind him for another attack.

Seeing its plan foiled, the creature moved back, and shot off a series of dark energy spheres at the brunette. Sora blocked the hits despite the minimum visibility, but then quickly turned, knowing that this attack was probably just another distraction. He had already seen too many of those during the fight.

Just as he suspected, his doppelganger shot out of a rift, only to have his plan foiled by the teen, who quickly retaliate with a blow that clipped his enemy´s right shoulder.

Sora continued to trade blow after blow, wincing as every tiniest of actions worsened his growing list of injuries. Even holding his keyblades was steadily becoming an impossible task, since every block or even every attack sent shockwaves of pain that rocked his body.

Even his enemy seemed to be getting steadily more desperate. It´s moves were becoming wilder and more forceful, though it was clear that it had sustained a lot of damage. Sora did his best in keeping it away, knowing that if given the chance, his doppelganger wouldn't hesitate to swap positions once more and heal.

"Why...w-why are you... even doing this?" Sora asked, his shortness of breath evident. None of the pieces fit. In fact, nothing within this fight made sense. Even so, if it was intelligent enough to boast and scorn him, then why shouldn't he be able to shed some light or ulterior motive.

His keyblades had been dismissed in a flash of light and he now found himself free falling completely in darkness, while gripping his enemy's arms so as to stop it from shredding him with those deadly black claws. Sora cried out as his enemy tried to overpower him, his arms were clearly trembling from the strain. However, the corrupted form would have none of it, and quickly launched a strong kick that knocked the wind out of him, making the brunette release his grip.

Sora wheezed for breath, but quickly summoned both keyblades in desperation as he knew that he had to block whatever attack was directed towards him. Claws collided against sleek metal making Sora´s injured shoulder burn painfully from the force that reverberated through the blade. Looking up, Sora´s tired blue eyes met the most furious pair of golden orbs he had ever seen. He had never witnessed such hatred and loathing before, especially not from a Heartless.

**It´s because of you.**

"Huh?" Sora asked in confusion and no small amount of shock. This only seemed to anger his opponent, who let out a dangerously low growl before pushing off his blades and attempting to break through his guard again.

**I've just about had it with you!**

His doppelganger growled as it launched more dark energy spheres at him. Sora quickly blocked, wincing as his poor body cried out.

"How is any of this my fault?!" Sora shouted back, despite the pain that it caused.

**It´s because you're the source of all this suffering!**

The creature roared, bringing down its claws down on him with fury. The teen just furrowed his brows in a mixture of anger, confusion, and pain as he blocked the strikes. His thoughts suddenly went back to the incident that started this all; an accident caused by his own inability to think things through. He had been irresponsible, that he couldn't just deny.

**You see, even you can't deny the truth.**

Sora shook his head as he heard the spiteful voice to clear his head. He realized then that his enemy was right about that, it really was his fault. However, this was certainly not the answer.

"Even if I am, you think giving into the darkness will make things better?" The teen shouted back in response as he launched Oblivion at the corrupted form like a harpoon. His doppelganger dodged, but not before growling in anger.

**With you gone, we will finally be free of this.**

"Darkness won´t bring freedom, don't you see? It will destroy you!" Sora yelled back as he recalled Oblivion, which appeared within his shaky grasp in a display of light. "You're not a Heartless, aren't you. Otherwise, you wouldn't be feeling any of these things, but if you do give into the darkness, you will disappear, don't you get it?!"

The brunette stared warily as his now silent opponent, as if looking at its now shadowed yellow eyes would bring about the answers he sought. All he got, was a spiteful scoff.

**It won't matter.**

The voice said, almost too low for him to hear.

**As long as this is over.**

**As long as you're gone.**

**WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?!**

A deafening roar echoed through the endless darkness, making Sora wince as his ears rung painfully from the sound. Another sudden sound snapped him out of his stupor. It was a low rumbling, not unlike the earthquake from earlier, though a bit different. This time, to his great shock, it was coming from right from under him.

Sora brought up his blades as great dark torrents suddenly rose from under him. The darkness around him actually bending towards the vortexes like water in a hurricane. Sora closed his eyes and winced as the darkness rushed passed him, his blades doing very little to help right now. He put up his arms up to cover his vitals, realizing now that his keyblades would do little. He felt his skin hurt as if tiny hot knives were cutting it. Scrounging up what little power he had left charging over the course of the battle, the Keyblade master struggled to form a barrier, even if it was a weak one to protect him from the worst of the damage.

The small dome flickered weakly under the stress, unable to fully form in the middle of the attack. Sora didn't care, as long as it could absorb some of the damage, it was alright. If he could maybe pour more power into it, then it would be much better.

Sora cried out as he poured everything he had into the dome, its unstable structure beginning to glow dangerously as it continued to be destroyed and reformed without the chance to release its accumulated energy.

There was no turning back now, Sora knew he had to finish this now.

His doppelganger suddenly leapt from within the center of the torrents, a full powered slash now waiting to be unleashed by its glowing black claws.

That however, was all it took for the barrier to snap.

* * *

Kairi gasped as yet another attack managed to graze her. She had disposed of so many Heartless, but even then, they just kept coming. Just where were they coming from?

The redhead slashed at the offending Neoshadow, slightly thankful that it was the last of the batch. Her heart was beating frantically within her chest, which apparently only served to entice her enemies. Her breath was coming in with short breaths, her body not used to fighting in these conditions of near exhaustion.

She was trying to be tough. In fact, she had been trying so hard to not be a burden to everyone that she had not hesitated to train or learn magic, just so that she could be fight alongside her friends instead of being the one that needed rescue.

She bit her lip, if only she could just get to the fragments and go. Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy as one would think, with the large wall of Shadow Heartless currently between her and her goal. Her mind couldn't help but wonder what Sora would do in this situation. He was so much stronger than her. He wouldn't have had this problem at all. He wouldn't hesitate like she was right now when their friends needed him.

The Heartless attacked once more, this time they didn't seem to bother with waiting and simply piled on top of her, their claws digging painfully into her skin; their lust for hearts magnified several times by the fact that, as a princess of the heart, her own had no darkness. Kairi struggled to move, but she couldn't do anything. She needed to get them off of her, but they were simply too many, and she couldn't move her arms or use her keyblade. Her magic had run out a while ago too.

"Why do I always end up like this?" Kairi wondered, a stray tear running down her cheek. She wanted to help Sora so much, but things always seemed to go wrong. Her eyes caught sight of a drawing at the other side of the small cave. When she saw it, her heart skipped a beat.

There it was, the drawing of themselves they made as kids. Amongst all the others this one was the most special to her. Unlike the others, this one had only been completed about a year ago with the childish and yet symbolic drawing of exchanging paopu fruits.

Though breathing heavily, Kairi´s eyes then landed on the light fragments and suddenly their presence here took a whole new meaning for her.

After all, these fragments travelled only to the places with more importance to Sora, and if all of them were here at this moment then...

_´Sora, was this all...because of me?´ _Kairi thought in shock and sadness before another set of claws pierced her, again and again, as the Shadows in the pile decided to attack.

The redhead cried out, the pain being too much. Her knees wobbled under her, threatening to give up at any second, but at that moment, Kairi stopped herself.

_´No, this ends now.´ _The Keyblade wielder said resolutely as she put her foot down. She'd be strong for him, just like he had been strong for her.

With newfound strength, Kairi moved forwards, her body aching as the Heartless continued their attack. Her body felt heavy with all the Heartless on top of her, but she fought onwards. If only she could reach those fragments.

It took all her strength and willpower to raise her hand. Several cuts, all varying size and depth littered her arm, but she couldn't have cared less at the moment. She was so close now, she could practically feel their warmth.

"A-almost there." Kairi said, sweat rolling down the side of her face.

Pain exploded in her side, making the redhead cry out. Instead of moving back, however, the teen stubbornly continued. They were practically in her grasp.

Another strike from one of the Shadows, but it was too late. With a quickly push forwards, the redhead closed the distance, her hand wrapping around the fragments.

Suddenly, there was light.

The fragments exploded outwards with her touch, their light washing over her like white hot flames that scorched though her opponents, yet gently soothed her many injuries. The light was both blinding and so gentle. As it washed over her, she felt it; it was the most amazing feeling in the world.

Kariri suddenly understood what it was: Love.

* * *

Riku gasped, darkness flowed over him like an eerie mantel. This was it, he couldn't hold back the darkness anymore. He was already at his limit.

The silver-haired teen mentally cursed. He had not been able to take out the Darkside yet. He really just hoped that Kairi was able to make it to the fragments, even though it was really just wishful thinking on his behalf. It shouldn't be taking her so long. Something was definitely wrong.

But how could he help?

He had not been able to defeat the Heartless yet. Running away would only draw the Darkside towards Kairi, causing even more problems. It wasn't like he was in any condition to run either. He could barely stand as it was.

Already he could start feeling the change happening.

Riku grunted as he closed his eyes. Sweat rolled down his brow as he used every ounce of his being to pull the darkness back. The teen winced. It was like trying to hold back a floodgate.

He was painfully aware of the fact that the Darkside, though injured, was more than healthy enough to start slowly trudging towards him to attack, not to mention that he was a sitting duck as it was.

_´I can´t let it end like this.´ _Riku thought as he attempted to move, his keyblade serving as a crutch.

A wave of pain shot up his spine, making him fall to his knees. To make matters worse, the Darkside now towered over him, it´s massive fist ready to strike him down.

"NO!" Riku cried out, but before he could do anything else, he found himself suddenly blinded by a radiant light.

He didn't know whether it was the Heartless before him, or his own darkness that seemed to howl in pain as the light seemed to cleanse it with hot white flames. All he could say for sure was that he had never felt anything so comforting before. His very wounds seem to hurt left and for the very first time in a long while, Riku felt his heart at ease.

_´This light...it reminds me of Sora.´_ Riku thought as he felt the oppressive darkness around him begin to disappear.

Opening his now aqua colored eyes, the teen saw the large column of light that formed in the sky like a massive tree in full bloom. Even the intimidating storm that once ravaged the island seemed to flee and disperse in presence of the light.

Gazing at the source of such a beautiful display, Kairi gave a sigh of relief.

She had done it.

* * *

Cid let out a string of curses as he swept his spear around to attack the several dozen Heartless that had somehow decided attacking in unison to smother him was a good idea. His arms were absolutely burning at the moment from the effort, to the point where half the time he was using his spear more like a walking stick rather than a weapon.

They'd been fighting tooth and nail for what seemed like an eternity now. The continued battle had taken its toll on everyone. Donald had already passed out from overexerting himself with his magic. Goofy was barely holding it together as it was, though he was not of any use in a fight since he could barely hold up his own shield. He had yet to hear from King Mickey for that matter. And to make matters worse, the number of Heartless had yet to dwindle. To say he was upset was an understatement.

"Damn Heartless!" Cid yelled as he swung his spear once more in anger, only to nearly fall back in shock as a sudden explosion rang out.

A blinding white light poured forth, nearly blinding him, though for some reason or another it didn't have an eerie or dangerous feel. If anything, it actually felt soothing and comforting, especially now in his current state.

"What the?" The blonde pilot muttered in confusion as he saw the Heartless around him hiss in pain before either dispersing or fleeing.

"What´s goin' on?" Goofy asked. Similarly he heard questioning squawks from a recently awoken Donald.

Cid´s eyes quickly turned towards the massive pillar of light in the sky, or rather the strong shock waves that seemed to be be emitting from it and making the storm disperse as if it were nothing but a bit of smoke in a hurricane. Cid then noticed something else; the shockwaves were now heading directly at them.

"Everyone grab somethin'!" Cid quickly called out before grabbing onto a nearby post, and not a moment too soon as quickly the trio was hit by intense gales that picked up the debris and almost threatened to uproot several of the palm trees nearby.

When it was finally over the group stood, a bit ruffled and nearly deaf from the roaring winds, but otherwise fine.

"What was THAT?!" Donald squawked in surprise.

Cid looked back at the light, a smirk quickly forming as he noticed where it was coming from. Before he could mention it however, another voice beat him to it. Cid´s eyes widened in surprise as he saw the small king approach.

"T-They ...did it." King Mickey said as he ran towards them, coming to a stop in front of them to catch his breath. Though he looked like he had just single handedly tried to wrestle with a Behemoth, and definitely not like the paragon of nobility that a king was supposed to be, nothing could deny that look of absolute happiness and relief on his face.

"Wow, check it out you guys, it´s so awesome. Everyone, come here and look at this!" Tidus, the current bane of his existence, said as he poked his head out of the building, followed close by other brave islanders that decided to check what the previous racket was all about. Whatever it was, judging by the gaping look on their faces, they probably did not expect this.

Lighting a cigarette up, the blonde allowed himself a deep long drag.

_´Ya damn brats.´_

* * *

The second the claws broke through the unstable barrier, a blinding flash exploded outwards from the surface, showering the corrupted form with sharp glowing shards all of the unstable domes previously formed.

"IT'S OVER!" Sora called out through the chaos, his heart beating rapidly as another pulse of adrenaline forced his aching body to act. Suddenly he felt a warmth like no other overcome him, soothing the worst of his wounds, and bring him a feeling of comfort and hope.

The creature writhed in pain, but the brunette was not done yet. He recalled the attack used and if he was right, then for it to appear a surface was needed. Apparently this hole wasn't as bottomless as he'd once thought. He didn´t know if his enemy had just made it that way or if it was sheer coincidence, but either way, this would work to his advantage.

Moving quickly towards his downed enemy, the keyblade master grabbed him roughly from the back, using his newfound strength to his fullest advantage, and placed him in front of him, Keyblades appearing in both hands as he charged up a final attack. A great white light formed between the two blades, forming smaller wisps that surrounded the brunette and cut through the darkness, illuminating the entire area, and revealing an incoming end to this bottomless pit.

"AHHHHHHH!" Sora shouted as he pointed his attack downwards towards his still writhing enemy, and released the massive sphere of light along with two slashes from each of his keyblades forming a burning white X.

There was a near deafening roar of pain coming from his enemy, but even that was dwarfed by the sound of the large explosion that trapped his enemy between ground and the deadly radiance of his attack. Sora himself had to close his eyes and put his arms before him to protect himself from the whiplash of his own move; the resulting shockwave so strong that it even seemed to banish the darkness surrounding him.

Sora saw the ground nearing, and quickly landed on the tip of his uninjured foot before dropping to a complete roll, the momentum from his fall having been heavily decreased by the upward force of the explosion.

The teen rolled over on his stomach before painfully getting up to his feet, Oblivion´s longer shaft serving as a makeshift crutch. Slowly, step by step, the brunette dragged his exhausted body over to the crater nearby.

After all, it was not over yet.

**Y-you´ve come to f-finish me off, I see.**

His enemy said, it's heavily wounded body still smoking from the last attack. For once, there was no hateful remark, only detached acceptance.

There was no maw snarling at him, or inhuman glowing eyes this time. The light from the attack had seemingly wiped the darkness right off the being, leaving a scratched up, though relatively normal face mirroring his own, except for the darker hair and amber eyes as a reminder of its previous form. Even the beings clothing was now a heavily torn and tarnished version of his own final form.

Sora said nothing as he finally managed to stand over the creature that had caused him so much pain and grief. His features set in a frown as he looked down at its battered body. There was no way it would get up after that.

The Keyblade wielder took Oblivion and positioned the blade right over the creature's chest; a fatal blow no matter how you looked at it. This was it, with this final strike everything would be over.

Sora took a deep breath to steady himself. It seemed almost silly how, after everything he had gone through, it would all end in this single moment.

The teen grabbed Oblivion's handle with both hands before pressing it against his forehead. His tired gaze once again wandered over to the pale yellow eyes of his opponent.

He hesitated, though he wasn't sure why. Why shouldn't he have his victory. He had worked so hard for it. He wanted it, no, he _needed it_ in order to get out of this hellhole.

**Why do you hesitate? DO IT NOW!**

Sora shook his head to clear his thoughts, before driving the blade downwards with all his strength.

The deed was done.

The teen let out a sigh of relief before finally allowing himself to drop on the floor, eyes facing upwards and limbs sprawled on the ground. With his breath still coming in short gasps, the teen just lay there with his eyes closed, too tired to even move.

**Why?**

His corrupted form asked quizzically, Oblivion´s blade piercing the ground just inches away from his face.

"Because neither of us would've won by killing the other." Sora said despite his shortness of breath. "Your words earlier made me realize something; you are me and I am you. You were in pain, weren't you? Wasn't that why you did this?"

The teen finished, letting silence reign once more. It didn't matter. It wasn't like he was expecting an answer. The lack of a retort was a good enough proof that he was correct.

**It was never our intent to harm you.**

The teen opened his eyes as he heard those words.

**That vile darkness twisted and corroded us. It made us suffer so much that we lost ourselves completely,we just wanted to destroy the one that brought forth that suffering, even at the cost of our existence.**

"You guys..." Sora muttered.

**Even if we should disappear, at least that awful pain would be gone, you see. It had gone on for so long that we were desperate.**

"I-I´m sorry."Sora said, making Oblivion disappear in a flash of light. "It was all my fault to begin with. I was careless, and even after the damage was done, I just kept it to myself instead of telling the others. That just made things worse in the end, didn't it?"

**It doesn't matter now. What´s done is done and there is nothing we can do to stop this now.**

"What do you mean? What´s gonna happen now? The battle's over isn't it? Shouldn't everything be fine now?" Sora asked, struggling to get up and face his counterpart.

**Normally that would have been the case, but look at where we are now.**

Sora looked around only to see darkness everywhere, though strangely enough, he could see himself and his counterpart just fine. Even so, this place somehow seemed far deeper than he had ever been. If he remembered correctly, all this time he'd been falling. Did that mean that he had actually reached rock bottom?

"Are you saying, we're stuck?" Sora urgently asked his motionless companion who continued to blankly stare upwards. After receiving no response, the brunette dropped back to the ground with a tired sigh.

He didn't even think for a moment how he would get back up once it was over. It was rather careless of him, but he'd been so busy fighting for his life that making his way out of that chaos afterwards didn't even cross his mind for a second. To make matters worse, he knew that in his current state there was no way he could get out of this place. His wounds were too grave and he was far too exhausted.

He had no energy left, not to move around, and definitely not to escape.

An awful feeling suddenly invaded him, and Sora quickly turned his gaze downwards towards the floor. Apparently sensing the same thing, his counterpart did the same, his tone suddenly becoming serious.

**It´s here again.**

Sora struggled to get up to his feet once more as he noticed that oppressive feeling all around him. That vile darkness had come back for revenge, this time however, there was nothing he could do.

* * *

"Kairi!" The silvery haired teen called out as he limped towards the red headed girl.

The light from the explosion had already dispersed, meaning it should have been over. The seconds had ticked by, feeling more like an eternity, and he was almost about to limp towards the secret spot, worst case scenarios already playing in his mind, when he caught sight of her.

There were cuts and scratches of all varying sizes and depths all over her. From the way she walked, or rather, limped, he could tell that she was just barely holding it together. Her clothes were torn and stained with a mixture of blood, sweat, and dirt, while her hair looked like a mess.

She really did look awful, though he supposed that he wasn't exactly in the position to say that, especially considering that he likely looked a lot worse. Still, it made him feel guilty knowing that he couldn't protect her.

Despite her injured state, Riku noticed the heartwarming smile on her face and the shining light in her hand. On a closer look, the teen could see that it was distinctly star shaped.

'_The fragments!´_ The silvery haired Keyblade wielder realized before he reached Kairi to check if she was alright.

"I'm fine." The girl said, and the teen had to roll his eyes at the lie. He could easily see otherwise.

"If you´re gonna lie, then at least make it believable." Riku said with an amused scoff as he began to look over her injuries.

"Well, you should look at yourself then. Besides, we still have to get this to Sora." The redhead retaliated.

Riku gave a sigh, giving a last glance at the girls wounds to ensure that they weren't life threatening. She was still had a long journey back ahead of them and little time for it. Looking up at the sky, the teen noticed that the storm was slowly beginning to form anew, black clouds slowly forming and drifting in their direction. It was definitely not a good sign.

They would have to move quickly.

"Let´s head towards the pier." The teen said as they both limped and tumbled towards the place they'd left their only way out off the island. Despite the momentary relief, Riku could feel it. There was a certain sense of urgency in the air.

Kairi put her arm under his to help him move his own weight despite her own injuries. Riku didn't protest this time, they needed to move fast and this was not the time to be prideful. It was also because he remembered a time like this; back when Sora did the same for him after that final fight against Xemnas. That memory only served to strengthen his resolve.

"Erm, Riku?" Kairi´s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"What´s wrong?" The teen said, somewhat unnerved by Kairi´s sudden change of attitude. She didn't answer back, instead choosing to point at what he assumed the current problem was. Turning to look, Riku quickly understood what the problem was and released a string of curses; the jet ski was gone.

"We tied it down, and even left it on shore, how could this happen?" The silvery haired teen said in frustration. Of course, everything was looking far too good to be true.

"It looks like the ropes were cut." Kairi said, disillusionment and frustration clear in her voice as she handed him the soggy remains of what appeared to be the rope they used.

"It must've been the Heartless, then the explosion must've dragged it offshore." Riku said, pinching the bridge of his nose, feeling very much like going to find and destroy the small menaces just to unwind.

"Now what? Should we try to signal for help?" The redhead asked.

"They might not see it through the storm that's coming, though if we're lucky, King Mickey and the others will notice our absence and come looking for us." Riku answered analytically. That would still take far too long for his liking.

They just didn't have time to be twiddling their thumbs and wait for a rescue. Should they just swim over to the shore? Riku shook his head quickly; that would be suicidal. Though it could be manageable in normal situations, albeit very tiring, they were far too injured to try, not to mention the storm that was brewing could catch them unawares during the trip and drown them. They could try to make a raft, but that would still take too long and they didn't even have the tools necessary at their disposal.

_´What are we supposed to do?´_ Riku thought. He was so frustrated and angry. He knew Kairi felt the same as him. After all the effort they put into this mission, they were just supposed to sit and wait it out?

A sudden sound snapped him out of his thoughts, and he quickly turned as he saw something flash and fall from the sky. Summoning Way to the Dawn, Riku quickly assumed a defensive stand and prepared himself for another possible fight. Next to him, Kairi had Destiny's Embrace ready to strike.

"What now?" The silvery haired Keyblade wielder said, sarcasm dripping from his words. Light flashed once more, forcing Riku to close his eyes, just long enough for it to subside and for him extend his keyblade to counter.

"Riku wait!" Kairi cried out, forcing him to stop in his tracks just as the light died down completely.

"You´re...!" The teen said in shock as looked at the figure before him.

* * *

Leon paced impatiently inside the house. The Heartless attack had subsided a bit ago along with the storm, but just as everyone had begun to think that it was safe to be out in the streets, suddenly the storm clouds had blotted out the skies of Radiant Garden once more, this time worse than before.

With the strong winds and thunder, just being outside was a hazard. He had no choice but to tell everyone to stay inside and keep the Heartless from getting in. Cloud and Tifa were guarding Ansem's study and the area near the castle postern to keep an eye out for suspicious Heartless activity. He'd told them to be particularly careful in case the Heartless factory began working again, or if there were too many Heartless heading towards the castle, in which case the world's keyhole, sealed or not, could be in danger.

Yuffie had been asked to take up Aerith´s post in Protecting the townsfolk along with the Gullwings. He was very aware that they didn't seem to get along particularly well, but this was an emergency and they would have to deal with it. Besides, he knew that Yuna, the leader of the trio, was versed in white magic, which would really come in handy if the Heartless did manage to break through and harm someone.

That, of course, left Aerith and himself protecting Merlin´s place. Normally he would've been more comfortable with Aerith tending to the townsfolk, but given Sora´s current deteriorating condition, having a white mage nearby gave him some peace of mind. If things happened to go wrong again, then he'd also have some backup.

_´Though considering the amount of magical restraints we set on him, I highly doubt it.´_ Leon thought.

Moreover, it didn't look like Sora had the strength to move anymore. It wasn't as comforting as it was terrifying, really. Every five seconds or so his gaze would turn towards the monitors next to the bed, before he would continue pacing around the room.

So many thoughts coursed through his mind. Why were they taking so long? Where was Merlin in all of this mess? Would they make it in time? What if they didn´t? What then? What would they do about Sora? What would happen to the storm? Would they be forced to evacuate this world because of it just like they did all those years ago? If what Cid said about the storms happening in other worlds was true, where could they go?

"Leon!" Aerith called out with urgency, snapping the brunette out of his thoughts. Leon quickly admonished himself for not paying attention. He hadn't even noticed the alarms from the monitors go off.

"Aerith what´s going on?" Leon asked as he rushed towards Sora, only to stop in his tracks when a sudden dark gale emanating from the teen threatened to throw him back, like a furious hurricane with Sora right in its middle. "What is this?!"

He heard several objects behind him crash to the ground and shatter, though right now he couldn't care less. Darkness spun around the Keyblade wielder, blocking him from view, though Leon could see darkness creep over the remaining bits of skin that had remained intact until now. But even worse was the overpowering feeling the whole thing gave off. The swordsman stood frozen on the spot as he experienced what felt like a floodgate being opened all at once, only darker and more terrible. He suddenly felt like a kid again, watching as his world was swallowed up by the darkness.

He saw a blur of pink on his peripheral vision, and suddenly realizing what was happening, Leon quickly jumped back to reality. "AERITH DON'T!"

"The process is starting, we NEED to stop it!" Aerith called out over the sound of roaring winds. The mage made her way over to the teen, hands ready with a spell, only to gasp as the wind sent a strong gust towards her and sent her flying backwards, her fall just barely averted as Leon managed to catch her.

Leon grunted as he pulled the flower girl up, an arm shielding his eyes as sheets of paper blew all over the room. Even the blaring of the alarms was lost to the wind. Leon tried to move closer, but the task seemed impossible. To make matters worse, the wind made it hard to breath.

Already he could feel his consciousness slipping.

"SORA!"

* * *

Tired blue eyes stared upwards at the darkness that was where the sky should have been. Too tired to stand up, his knees were now the only thing that stopped him from collapsing entirely. In front of him, his counterpart stood, arms spread wide and new injuries bleeding down unto darkness that covered the floor like a pool of tar. Small black flames licked painfully at the being's skin causing him to tremble, but otherwise he didn´t move.

"Why are you protecting me?" Sora asked, his voice just barely a whisper while his eyes tried to focus on the figure before him, far too exhausted to fully register what was going on.

**We're sorry for the trouble we made you go through.**

**Even if it may not make a difference, I still wanted to do this.**

"B-but, why?" Sora asked.

**Because I am you, and you are me.**

Tendrils of darkness wrapped themselves around his counterpart arms, chest and neck, forcing the being down, similarly those same black tendrils began to cover his body, slowly enveloping it until it was almost as if he were drowning. Even so, every time a tendril went to attack him directly, his counterpart would take the hit.

"Stop." Sora called out, a knot forming in his throat. His vision was starting to blur.

**I-it´s fine...**

"N-no...it's not." Sora said, his voice leaving him. An uncomfortable numbness was setting in his limbs, making his struggle all the more difficult.

The teen struggled against the darkness that now reached his neck. He reached out to his counterpart, fighting against the binds that tried to force his trembling arm down. No matter how hard he tried, his body just wouldn't, or rather, couldn't follow. Sora blinked to get the dark spots out of his vision, but it wouldn't work. All he saw now was a rapidly fading mass of blurs.

Was this it? Was this really the end? Were all his efforts going to just go to waste like this?

Sora struggled to keep his eyes open, but suddenly felt as if his eyelids were made of lead. Not that it would matter much, seeing as black had invaded his vision. His arms were already deep underneath the darkness leaving him at the mercy of what was to come.

A sudden tear ran down his cheek, its warmth barely noticeable due to the numbness that had set in. He thought of his home, and how he'd never feel the warmth of the sun, or the cool salty breeze of the sea. He thought about the friends he'd made from all those different worlds, and how he'd never see them again.

He then thought about his closest friends. How he'd never be able to talk with Roxas again, or get him to share his thoughts with him. It had taken so long just to get him to open up. The same with Naminé, he´d only really just begun to get to know those two. Donald and Goofy, King Mickey too, they had shared so many moments together, and there were many more that he'd never be able to experience with them again.

He then thought of Riku and how he'd never be able to compete with him as a rival or fight alongside him as a friend again. Even those times of just messing around with him in the islands like they always did when they small, would never happen again. For the longest time he had been more than just a friends to him, they'd been like brothers in all but blood.

And then he thought about Kairi. He'd never again be able to laugh with her or see the island sunset with her or notice the way the setting sun made her reddish hair look ablaze. He'd never be able to take her to all those other worlds he'd been to, just so he could show her all the amazing things he'd seen in his adventures.

His hand then came in contact with something, which was surprising since it couldn't seem to feel anything else. It was small and smooth, made up with many intricate interlocked pieces. It´s surface was cold, but not uncomfortably so, though his mind was barely capable of registering that thought.

Still, when he recognized the object, another warm tear ran down his face in response.

_´K-Kairi.'_

He'd never get the chance to give her that gift; to muster up his courage and tell her.

The keyblade wielder closed his eyes as the rising darkness covered his face entirely. Too exhausted to respond, the last bubbles of air escaped from his nose and mouth as he was enveloped entirely. His mind just barely able to form a last thought before it all went black.

´I-I´m sorry...everyone.´

* * *

"SORA!"

The broken door was slammed open and there she stood, tired, injured, and soaking wet, eyes staring wide at the scene before her. Darkness flew around the room, sending things scattering like a hurricane had gone off inside the small house. It was terrible and overpowering, making that time that Sora attacked them look tame in comparison.

Kairi gasped as she saw both Aerith and Leon on the ground; Aerith having nearly been knocked out, while Leon was doing his best to stand. She attempted to rush over to help them, but was stopped as Riku put a hand on her shoulder as if telling her to stay, before moving forwards while shielding his eyes from the gale.

She felt a sudden wave of fear hit her as she saw what was happening. Her eyes then moved to the back of the room where the twister seemed to originate. A dark figure lay on the bed, wreathed completely in black. Though it was hard to see, she had a gut feeling that it was Sora.

A horrible sensation set in the pit of her stomach. Were they late?

Hands clenched around the object that had brought them here. It was a vibrant yellow greenish star shaped figure, encased in crystal, in all but one of the star's points. It was apparently called a star shard, though other than it´s name and function, there was little they knew about the strange object.

They had been surprise, that was for sure, when Merlin suddenly appeared to them in the islands. It hadn't been in his typical display of bubbles, after all. He had explained that it was too unstable to use magic, at least to travel between worlds. It was then that he gave them the object.

They shared an elixir together, just so they wouldn't completely pass out from the trip; it´s effect was diminished because of it, but at the same time, neither one of them was willing to take it for themselves. It had been a part of the package that was given to them as a gift; quite literally the only last healing item they had. They had completely forgotten about it at this point, but luckily it had come in handy just when they needed it the most. At least they were no longer on the verge of passing out. As Merlin explained, the trip wouldn't be very kind to them in their current states.

Follow your hearts and it will show you the way. That's what the wizard had told them as he handed them the star shaped crystal.

It sounded too good to be true. With this they could quickly get to the islands and reach Sora. Of course there had to be some sort of catch. Merlin had told them then; Sora´s time was just about up. He told them to prepare. That maybe when they got here, they would witness something they may not be ready to accept.

"Riku, Kairi!" Leon´s agitated voice called from where he knelt on the ground. He was heavily injured, and his dazed eyes had a look of someone who was trying to hold it together. After trying to get up and stumbling, it only confirmed her suspicions.

"Stay still, you´re injured." Riku said as he knelt next to the brunette. "Tell us, what´s happening?"

"You have to use the fragments now! It's already started!" Leon said. Kairi looked at the spinning vortex with frustration while Riku only frowned.

Just how were they supposed to get there. There was a wall of dark wind blocking them off from Sora.

"We need something strong enough to pierce it. Just long enough so we can use the fragments." Kairi realized as she took out the glowing star shape from her pocket. They were pulsating now, almost as if reacting to Sora´s presence within the room, but clearly it was not enough.

"I got it!" Riku said in realization as he stood up and summoned Way to the Dawn. Kairi walked towards him wearily, her arms up in protection from the wind as her hair whipped about. "Put your hand on the keyblade, and on my signal I want you to put as much power into it as you can, alright?"

Kairi looked confused for a moment, but nodded and then placed her hand over Riku´s, right over his keyblade´s hilt. At that moment, the gale suddenly intensified, nearly knocking her back, like a cornered animal fighting as if it knew it was in danger. She couldn't open her eyes now, though she did feel the cool smooth metal of Way to the Dawn and fixed her grip over it. She would not back down.

"NOW!"

Kairi did it. The second she heard those words she proceeded to put every ounce of power and feeling into the blade that almost seemed to hum. She didn't even notice herself cry out alongside Riku, not from pain, but from the sheer strength of the attack. A thin beam of light shot from the Keyblade, deceptively thin but intense enough to make the recoil nearly throw them back.

The light cut through the darkness, like the sun through a shadow. A howl rang eerily, though Kairi was not sure whether it was a figment of her imagination caused by the wind or the seemingly struck darkness crying out in pain.

Without a moment to waste, Kairi thrust the charm before her, the light in it growing stronger and resonating further still now that there was no barrier to block it out anymore. As though they were alive, the lights shot off from the object and towards the prone figure,their intense light leaving trails like tiny comets that nearly blinded everyone in the room.

There was an even stronger gale and a final howl as the light banished the darkness, its intensity reducing the tendrils around Sora to nothing. The darkness that covered the Keyblade wielder was seemingly burned off, it´s tiny black particles then floating into the air only to disappear, revealing the face that hid underneath the guise of a Heartless.

The wind died down just as the light glowed one final time before disappearing, leaving only a slight dimming glow coming from the brunette on the bed.

"Sora!" Kairi cried out as she scrambled to her feet, suddenly wondering when exactly she had fallen to her knees.

She quickly found herself to his side, Riku just behind her to check on their friend. The brunette on the bed did not stir.

"Sora!" Riku repeated as he quickly moved his hands over his head and then neck to check his temperature and pulse.

"Quick, is he alright?" Kairi asked.

The silver haired teen let out a curse. "I-I can´t feel a pulse."

"Tron!" Leon called out from where he knelt. Aerith had just regained consciousness and was slowly getting to her feet. "What´s his status?"

The robotic voice replied, his voice somewhat somber. "Heartbeat negative."

The swordsman cursed, limping quickly towards the bed with Aerith helping him. Kairi just stared, feeling disbelief by those words. She stood in shock, her world suddenly feeling like it had stopped.

_**´Kairi wait, he's still not gone!´**_ Naminé's frantic voice called out to her, though still fuzzy, she could make out the words just fine.

"What?" Kairi muttered in shock, but aware that she had actually said it out loud.

_**´Sora. I can feel him. He's still alive, but he's fading!´**_ The former nobody repeated. ´_**The darkness was blocking me out, but now that it's gone, I can feel him. That's also why I couldn't contact you earlier."**_

"Kairi, what is it?" Riku asked, noticing the girl's reaction.

"It´s Naminé. She says he's still not gone." Kairi said urgently. Hope now blooming inside of her.

"She´s right." Aerith said, after putting one hand over Sora's forehead. "He´s on the verge of death, we're losing him!"

"We don't have any potions left. Can´t you heal him?" Leon said as he began to look for anything that could help.

"My magic can only heal him if he is relatively stable. It won't bring him back if he's on the brink." Aerith said, her hands glowing briefly before she shook her head.

"Don´t we have anything that could help?" Kairi asked while Riku rummaged through his items.

"There´s nothing left inside the package except for the feather. We used the elixir back in the islands remember." Riku said in dismay. "Not that an elixir would help at this point."

"Wait, feather?" Leon asked, as if realizing something. "Let me see!"

Riku looked in confusion, but obliged, showing the swordsman the crimson feather inside the package.

"No way... this, this is a phoenix down!" Leon said in shock before extending his hand. "Give it here."

Riku quickly handed the strange feather to the man, and they all watched as he put the feather on the teen's chest before pressing down on it with his hand. There was a warm red and gold shimmer that enveloped the brunette before dimming, and all at once they waited in tense silence, seconds ticking by painfully.

Finally, it was broken by a small, nearly inaudible sob as Kairi put her hand on the teen´s chest. Her other hand moving over his face to remove the locks of hair that covered his grime covered face.

"Please come back." Kairi said, tears beginning to run down her face. Everyone else looked tearful and solemn as they looked at the pale, unmoving teen before them.

"Please, you can´t go."

* * *

"Huh?"

Blue eyes opened in confusion as Sora suddenly found himself on his knees. There was no darkness there to hold him down, only a strange feeling of peace. Standing up slowly, the teen suddenly realized that he felt no pain either. Where was he?

Looking down the teen noticed something. His wounds were gone, even his clothes were in a pristine state.

"Am I dead?" Sora asked himself in confusion that then offset a rush of panic.

**You're not dead, though not quite alive either.**

Sora quickly turned around in surprise, only to see his counterpart. At least he assumed it was his counterpart, since it was more accurately a mirror image of himself. His hair was brown and his eyes were of the same shade as his. He stood before him with his arms crossed, a rather amused look on his face. It was then that he noticed that he was wearing his final form´s clothes, and not the tarnished version he'd seen earlier, but the silvery radiant version that seemed to shine on its own.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Sora asked, brow furrowed in confusion.

**Your friends saved us.**

**They banished the darkness with the light that had been taken from us.**

**The darkness is gone now.**

Sora smiled warmly at the thought. So he really wasn't alone after all. All this time it had been his deepest fear, but this just proved it; despite how bad things looked, his friends were always there to watch his back. In all honestly, he couldn't wish for better friends.

"So what happens now?" Sora asked in curiosity. His final form let out a small chuckle.

**Whatever you want, I suppose.**

**You can stay here if you want, or go back.**

**You have someone waiting for you, don´t you?**

Sora nodded enthusiastically, but then stopped as he heard a myriad of voices in his head. They sounded far away, and somewhat agitated. Then he heard another voice, one he hadn't heard for the longest time.

'_**Sora!' **_The voice called, its tone loud and drawn out as if searching for someone.

"Roxas?"Sora asked in disbelief, though for some reason the blonde didn't answer back. Instead, he continued to call his name.

**They are calling you, but your voice can't reach them from here.**

**You are far too deep inside yourself.**

"So this is deep inside of me?" Sora wondered as he finally looked around, somewhat disappointed by the simplicity. There was just a floor and a seemingly endless beyond, unlike the stain glass windows from before. But those were inside him too, weren't they?

**Don't sell yourself short, this is but the tip of the iceberg.**

**You have a rather big heart, you know.**

His final form seemed to say, as if reading his thoughts.

"Wait, then how do I get back?" Sora asked, realizing that this place just seemed to go on forever, and there didn't seem to be any exits.

His counterpart just let out an amused laugh, before moving to the side as a strong white glow suddenly materialized just where he had been standing.

"This looks like...the door to the light!" Sora realized as he approached it slowly. Just like that portal that had saved him and Riku when they were stranded in that deserted beach within the Dark Realm, this one looked almost the same. Even the warmth that it gave off felt similar.

**It won't be open forever.**

**You should hurry to your friends now.**

Sora nodded enthusiastically before approaching the portal, just before he could touch it, however, he stopped and faced his counterpart with a questioning look on his face.

"What about you? Aren't you coming?" The brunette asked with a questioning tilt of his head.

His counterpart just let out a small laugh, one that, now that he thought about it, did sound awfully a lot like one of his.

**I am you and you are me, remember?**

**Besides, this is where we belong.**

**We'll always be here.**

**Our heart connects us.**

"So I guess I'll be seeing you." Sora smiled, though then his expression turned more serious. "Even though we were off to a bad start, in the end you still took those hits for me. It was my fault to begin with. I-I´ll be more careful from now on. So thanks, and bye."

The teen went to the portal, looking back once he was at the other side, once he heard his final form's voice.

**What´s done is done.**

**But that doesn't mean that things won't be right again, or maybe even better than before.**

**We are sorry as well.**

For the first time, Sora then noticed the three small wisps of light that floated around his counterpart; one red, the other blue, and the final one, yellow.

_´Those are-!´_ Sora thought in realization before a bigger smile found its way onto his face.

With a wave of his arm he gave a final goodbye before the warm light enveloped him.

* * *

Beep

Beep

Beep

Sora suddenly stirred; his awareness somehow awoken by high pitched and rhythmic beeps that his ears seemed to faintly pick up. Beyond that, everything seemed fuzzy. His brain felt like it had somehow been stuffed with cotton.

Slowly he became aware of the somewhat numb feeling of the rest of his body, and the small pressure on his chest. Everything felt so heavy, and he found that he just didn't have the energy to bother. Or rather, he felt disconnected from everything else.

And then there was the pain. He could feel every single muscle in his body scream in protest at the mere thought of moving. He quite honestly felt as if a hoard of Berserker nobodies had just decided to play granstander with him as a ball.

His senses seemed to rouse and he suddenly became aware of someone calling his name, though it wasn't his ears that seemed to pick it up, but rather, it was coming from his own mind.

_**´Sora!´ **_The voice seemed to call out urgently.

_´Roxas?´_ Sora thought blearily. Now that he thought about it, this wasn't the first time he had called right?

Sora mentally shook his head. He couldn't remember. Everything felt like he had just woken up from a very vivid dream.

_**´Sora?! You're alive!´**_ Roxas seemed to nearly shout out in surprise, making Sora wince. He didn't think he'd ever heard the former nobody sound so excited or relieved before.

Feeling more awake now, the Keyblade wielder slowly opened his eyes with a groan, the blurry white light suddenly blinding him and forcing him to close his eyes into thin slits. Blinking slowly to get his eyes adjusted to the light, the sudden blurs of color focused into objects. He realized he was lying on a bed. The room looked vaguely familiar, though right now he just couldn't quite put his finger on it since it looked like a tornado had just passed by. There was some kind of monitor that made the strange rhythmic 'beeps' that woke him up.

He then noticed the pressure on his chest remove itself, and it was then that he saw her.

Kairi stood besides him, her eyes red from crying, though looking at him with nothing short of shock and disbelief. Tear tracks ran down her cheeks, noticeable only to his still blurry vision because of the grime that covered the rest of her face. Her usually pristine clothes were sullied and torn, and there were scratches on her skin as well, though these seemed to be already healing.

Riku was right next to her, and just like Kairi, he looked like he had just lost a battle with a behemoth. Leon and Aerith were there too, looking just about ready to faint. Did that mean he was in Radiant Garden. Just what was going on? All of them were looking at him like they had just witnessed some kind of miracle. Just what happened?

"Kairi? Riku?"

* * *

Kairi almost couldn't believe it.

She stood by his side praying to whatever deity that was listening to save Sora, though in the end, with no reaction whatsoever, everyone was forced to assume the worst. They had stood together in a solemn silence, none of them willing to break it and declare out loud what everyone was thinking at the moment. As if just saying it verbally would make the dreaded words come true.

And then it happened.

At first there was a small 'beep'. She thought it had just been a figment of her imagination mocking her own weakness. They were all very tired and struck with grief. Most importantly it felt like an eternity since his heartbeat stopped. People's hearts just didn´t start beating spontaneously after so long did they? That´s what the more rational part of her brain told her at least.

But then there was another, and she thought that some entity somewhere must've been playing some kind of sick joke. But then Riku heard it as well, and in that moment, she knew she couldn't have been imagining things.

Leon had checked the machines, thinking they could have come loose and been picking up on her readings since her hand was still over Sora´s chest, but it wasn't the case. Then she saw one of his fingers twitch, though at this point she wasn't really sure of anything. Her mind was doing flips.

They all stood, eyes wide as the teen before them groaned slightly before opening his eyes into small slits, the azure color of his eyes still perfectly visible despite his dazed expression.

None of them talked, as if the softest of sounds would suddenly shatter this perfect illusion.

"Kairi? Riku?" Sora broke the silence, his voice hoarse, though it was only expected after being in disuse for so long.

Kairi tried to contain herself, she really did.

"SORA!" The redhead cried out in pure happiness.

The brunette really didn't know what hit him when he suddenly found himself being embraced. Even Riku had joined in, ruffling Sora´s messy spikes as the startled brunette protested comically.

"Give him some space you guys." Leon said, though for once, happiness was clearly visible on his usually stoic expression.

"Does anything hurt?" Aerith asked as she handed the teen a glass of water. Sora drank it greedily, only to cough as the liquid went down the wrong way.

"Yeah, my-" Sora began after a few coughs, only to be interrupted as the remains of the door where knocked open.

The next thing they knew was that Donald and Goofy had added themselves into the group hug, soon followed by Mickey, and Yuffie, with the other members of the HBRC crowding around the teen as well, making it seem more like a dogpile than an actual hug.

"You guys!" Sora said, his laughter melodious as he tried to get everyone off, his pain momentarily forgotten.

"There's really no getting through to them, is there." Leon said, pinching the bridge of his nose, though this time in amusement. Next to him, Cloud gave a small chuckle as he saw Tifa fuss over the teen´s injuries.

"Let them enjoy this for now, they have more than deserved it." Merlin said, stroking his long beard as he happily looked onto the spectacle before him. "The storms have finally vanished, making the worlds stable once again. It wouldn't be possible without their effort."

"Good thing we managed to get here in time to see this. Your magic really saved our hides back there, old loony." Cid said as he put his spear aside and sat down on a chair nearby, giving a sigh of relief.

Leon gave the wizard a questioning look. Kairi laughed, remembering Merlin´s typical banter with Cid.

The wizard just gave a sigh before replying. "I'll let it go just this once. Wouldn´t want to ruin this moment, anyways."

"Alright everyone, how about we all clean this up so I can cook something up for us all." Aerith said and everyone agreed at once. Kairi then realized just how hungry, not to mention tired she was from all that fighting. She had a feeling that there was going to be one heck of a nap waiting for them all once the meal was over.

All at once, everyone moved quickly and efficiently despite their tired states, picking what had fallen on the floor or going into town to get food. In Merlin´s case, a bit of magic was used to fix the broken objects that had fallen on the ground. Despite the destruction there was a distinctly upbeat feeling in the air. They had just witnessed a miracle, after all.

"Kairi." Sora called, his voice still a little hoarse.

The redhead looked confused for a moment, but then approached the teen. Though he still didn't look all that well, she was happy to see that there was at least some color returning to his face.

"What's wrong?" Kairi asked, and from the corner of her eye she could see Riku stop and look at them in question.

"I just wanted..." Sora said and Kairi noticed that his eyes were half-lidded and slowly closing. His voice was growing ever softer as well, while head tilted slightly where it lay on the pillow. "I just wanted to tell you..."

"Sora?" Kairi asked quietly, softly nudging the teen on the shoulder.

The brunette mumbled something unintelligible, his eyes unfocused as they closed completely. A small phrase being uttered, right before his breathing evened out.

"Happy birthday Kairi."

The redhead's eyes widened in surprise, but surely enough, one glance at the calendar that had just been put up on the wall from where it had fallen was enough to confirm it. The question remained, on how she could forget that it was her own birthday today?

"Sora?" Kairi nudged again, this time to thank him, despite the rosy tint that now covered her cheeks. Her actions, however, were responded by some slight snoring.

"**I think it´s best to let him sleep it out for now. I really don't know what he's been through all this time, but he was really exhausted."** A voice said as a flash of blue illuminated the small room. When it dissipated, they saw none other than Roxas standing there, looking at Sora with an amused look on his face that also held traces of fondness.

"**I hope they don't run out food when he wakes up, though."** Namine said with a small laugh as she also materialized in a flash of gold.

"Think we should warn Leon and the others of Sora´s monstrous appetite?" Riku joked as he passed by, tray in hand. Kairi couldn't help but laugh at this strange yet light hearted scene playing out in front of her.

Looking over at all that happened these past few days, she realized that the answer as to why she would forget her own birthday was pretty obvious. These past two weeks, they had overcome every obstacle, surpassed every challenge; they had gone to hell and back for the sake of their friend. And finally, after so much pain and suffering, they had done it. Their quest had come to an end with them victorious.

Sora was alive and the worlds would be safe.

And for the first time in what felt like an eternity, Kairi felt her heart fill with joy.

* * *

**Canis: "Well that only took FOREVER!"**

**Crystal: "Don't look at me. But yes that was reallllly long."**

**Canis: "Still can't believe it's almost over."**

**Crystal: "I think I'm gonna tear up a little. The little story grew into a novel before we knew it."**

**Canis: "I never really thought it would turn out so long. I mean, 180k+."**

***On an unrelated note: while typing this part, the document mysteriously vanished, making the author and her beta-reader nearly died prematurely out of heart failure. Please remember to save backups ALWAYS.**

**Crystal: "I started to suspect it when I scrolled down on each chap and it kept scrolling (and scrolling...and scrolling...)."**

**Canis: "Anyways, the epilogue will be up shortly (if it isn't already). So thanks to everyone who has been with us so far, and also those who just started reading the story. You guys are awesome."**

**Crystal: "Seriously guys thanks! Read and review to get cookies :3."**


	21. Epilogue

**Here is the epilogue. There isn't much to say, but I thought I'd write the disclaimer one final time, you know, for nostalgia's sake.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own KH or its characters. They are the property of Disney and Square Enix.**

* * *

Sora leaned against the bent trunk of the paopu tree, his skin soaking up the sun and gentle sea breeze blowing against his face. It was a feeling he had really missed in his past misadventure and subsequent recovery. He was still having a hard time believing that he had somehow slept for three days straight after initially waking up.

It had taken some time, but slowly and surely, his wounds healed, and the memories of what happened while he was out also seemed to fade along with his injuries. Though such a thing should have bothered him, to be perfectly honest, he didn't really mind it that much. The memories that remained were like the foggy leftovers of a dream after waking up.

The others had told him what had happened while he was out, and in turn asked about what happened to him during all that time. After all they had gone through, who wouldn´t? Yet every time he tried to think about what happened, the memories just seemed to slip away. All that he could remember, strangely enough, were colours drowned in black and an intense white light.

Whatever the case, he was really just happy to be back. These islands; the ones that housed them as children and had seen them growing up, despite their small size, felt like heaven to him right now. After all, in all the other worlds he had visited, none gave of the same feeling of serenity like Destiny Islands.

_**´There´s no place like home I suppose.´**_ Roxas provided from within his head. He had really missed that as well.

_´Guess you're right.´ _Sora replied with a small chuckle as he closed his eyes and allowed himself to enjoy the warm sun.

According to Yen Sid he was well enough to start going on missions again, but it would still be best to take some time off to rest. He hated to admit it, but he could really use the R & R. The islands still needed some help in rebuilding from the storm, so he could at least be of some help here if things really got too boring.

Now there was just one final thing to sort out.

Sora felt his cheeks reddening at the thought, and he slowly reached into his right pocket. He hadn't had the chance to give it to her before, and it had been nearly a week since he woke up. He had gone through so much trouble just to get this, so it all came down to this. It was now or never.

"Hey sleepyhead! Earth to Sora, is anyone there?" A voice joked, snapping him out of his thoughts and making him jump.

"Kairi?!" Sora called out in surprise, though the redhead before him just laughed.

"Come on, Leon and the others are already here." Kairi said as she took his hand and attempted to drag him over towards the gathering of people near the small island´s only pier.

"W-wait, hold on!" Sora stammered. His feet digging deep into the sand as he protested against her surprisingly strong grasp. His cheeks were blushing intensely from the whole ordeal.

Seemingly noticing his distress, the redhead tilted her head in question, her brow furrowed as she took in his overall nervous appearance. Finally her hold on him relented, and she finally voiced her thoughts.

"Sora, what´s wrong?" Kairi asked and Sora let out a nervous laugh before reaching out to scratch the back of his head in an entirely nervous reaction. This only served to increase the girl´s suspicions.

_**´I'll just leave you two alone, then.' **_Sora heard Roxas call before retreating deeper into his mind.

_´Wait what?! Oh, come on!´ _The teen called out, only to be completely ignored.

Well, there went his moral support.

"Err, it's nothing really. I just, well, how should I put it?" Sora blurted out, his tongue suddenly slipping over his own words. Why did he have to mess up in a time like this? He had fought countless battles against fierce foes, but when it came to stuff like this, why was he so hopeless?

He looked around for something, anything to give him support. Perhaps Riku would be there for him in such a time like this, but then again, he'd probably laugh. He'd never had these kind of problems, after all. How he seemed so cool-headed all of the time was beyond him. Looking around, Sora couldn't see him anywhere, and now that he thought about it, he was probably helping set up the things for the party. In fact, he should´ve been doing the same as well, but that spot over at the paopu tree had looked so inviting.

_´Oh well, too late for that.´_ Sora thought.

"Sora?" Kairi asked, snapping him out of his thoughts once more.

The teen mentally cursed.

"Yeah, I, uh, wanted to tell you something." Sora said, fiddling with his thumb while cursing his lack of eloquence.

"Okay, but do you think you could wait a sec?" Kairi said as she turned around and looked at the arriving party with a small wince. "I don't think Yuffie is looking all that well. Is it just me or is she looking a bit green?"

Prompted by Kairi´s concerned tone, he glanced over at the arriving group and noticed that the ninja did look a bit under the weather. In fact, it looked like she was resting most of her weight on a rather uncomfortable-looking Leon. Now that he thought about it, everyone else minus the blonde pilot were looking a bit unwell, too.

"Oh, that's fine. She gets airsick easily." Sora said, wincing as he saw the girl throw up behind a bush. He didn't mention that the others were probably like that because Cid was behind the wheel. Kairi likely knew that all too well. "Look, Riku´s on it anyways."

Sora thanked his lucky stars as he saw the silver haired teen go greet the group and lead them over to the shady area near the waterfall so they could sit down at the large table they had set up this morning.

"Hey, we should go help as well, come on." Kairi said with a small smile as she turned towards the wooden bridge that connected the tiny island where the Paopu tree was to the larger chunk of land that formed Play Island.

Sora nearly jumped in alarm, and this time it was his turn to pull at Kairi´s arm.

"Kairi wait!" The brunette called out, his voice struggling against the knot that formed in his throat. He could practically feel the heat radiating from his face from embarrassment, and hoped that Kairi wouldn't bring any attention to it.

This was it; his one and only chance.

"I-I just wanted to say..." Sora said. swallowing hard.

Why did he have to get so nervous anyways? He had practically grown up with Kairi. They had known each other for so long, but suddenly, giving her this birthday gift just didn't feel the same. He didn't know how to describe it, but something about this particular gift just made it seem more important, or rather,meaningful than the conch shells they would give each other as gifts when walking around the island´s sandy shores as kids. Maybe it was because of all the effort it had taken to acquire the silver bracelet, or maybe the amount of thought that went into deciding what would be the right gift for her. Even more importantly, was the sheer effort that took him to recover from his previous ordeal. Though he couldn't remember much, he at least knew that he had come very close to not making it back.

Sora took a deep breath as he felt a bit of courage return. That´s right, he had survived that trial so he could come back and do this. Or rather, because he could do this, he had the strength to surpass the trial. Therefore, this should be easy compared to what he had gone through.

"I-" Sora began.

Strengthening his resolve, the teen gripped the bracelet in his pocket hard, his knuckles turning white under the strain. He looked at the redhead before him, trying his best to not lose himself in the indigo pools that were her eyes, a small part of him silently cursing the fact that he had forgotten to properly wrap his present. It was too late for that now.

"I should have given this to you before, but with everything being so crazy lately, I just didn't have the chance." The teen said, averting his eyes from her curious gaze as if it would somehow make it impossible for her to notice the rising blush on his cheeks, or the general aura of nervousness that emanated from him. "E-even though it´s a bit too late, I still wanted you to have this."

Sora frantically tried to calm himself down. This was it; the moment he had been waiting for.

The teen squared his tense shoulders before reaching his arm out, mentally wincing as he realized just how sweaty his palms were underneath his gloves. He held the item enclosed protectively in his hand out toward the auburn haired girl as if it were made of glass. Understanding the gesture with no little amount of curiosity, Kairi held her hand out to receive the mysterious gift still hidden by Sora´s hand.

"Happy birthday Kairi." Sora said softly as he took the girl´s hand and covered in it his other hand; the smooth metal bracelet dropping on her open palm. Noticing this, Kairi looked down in confusion, while Sora simply let go of her hand and stepped back, his stomach full of fluttering butterflies.

What if she didn't really like it? It had been with him during his adventure, so the charm bracelet had unfortunately been roughened up as well. No amount of care had been able to save the silver from being scratched, especially considering what he had been through. To be perfectly honest, it had been a miracle that the bracelet was still in one piece after all that, but it didn't take away the feeling of uncertainty and a bit of guilt that he could no longer give Kairi the shiny new bracelet he had gone through so much trouble to get in the first place.

The girl stood in silence, her brow furrowed as she looked at the bracelet. Sora felt his stomach flip as he awaited the verdict. Anxiety slowly turned to sadness as he realized that the overjoyed reaction he had been expecting from the redhead did not appear. Sora frowned as he started dejectedly at the ground. There was the distinct feeling of pain, as if someone had just struck him in the heart.

"If you don't like it, it´s okay, I can get you something else-" The teen began, but was cut short as he suddenly felt the wind rush out of his lungs as something barreled straight to his chest.

"Don't be silly!" Muffled cries called out, and the teen looked down to see Kairi holding him tightly in an embrace, her face buried against the dark blue of his undershirt.

Was she...crying?

'Huh?!' Sora thought in panic. Confusion and desperation clawed at him. His mind was working overtime to figure out what was going on, or rather, what exactly he had done? Kairi was crying so he must've done something to make her sad, right? Was his gift really so bad?

Mentally he kicked at himself for being so useless at this sort of thing.

"Er, Kairi?" Sora said faintly, not really knowing what to do in this sort of situation. His hands hovered awkwardly over the girl, unsure whether they should be comforting her or was sad so he should comfort her, but wasn't he the one that upset her in the first place?

"You didn't have to." Kairi´s muffled voice cut through his momentary uncertainty. He could hardly hear them, in fact.

"What?" Sora asked before even thinking it. For a moment he thought he had been hearing things.

The redhead stirred before him, before looking up slightly towards him. To his surprise, there was no anger or sadness in her expression. Though her eyes looked like they wanted to cry, there was a smile on her lips that almost seemed to reach out to him and fill him with warmth.

"You didn't have to go through all that trouble for me." The girl said, her warm, indigo colored eyes looking directly at his own azure colored orbs. Thin fingers began to brush away at the tears that were beginning to form in the corner of her eyes. "J-just being here with me, right here on this island, is all that I could ever ask for. We've always always been together, but last week I really thought about it. When I saw you laying there so lifelessly on that bed, your heart just hanging by a thread, I just couldn't imagine what life would be like without you. That´s why, just having you standing here, in front of me, makes me feel like my wish already came true."

Sora stood there, eyes wide, as he looked at the girl before him.

Was that what this was about?

Instantly he felt all his fears and worries melt away. In fact, he could feel his heart soar; the infectious warmth inside of it spreading all the way outside to form a bright, though somewhat silly-looking smile on his face.

"Wait so, does this mean you like it?" The teen asked, his eyes bright as he put his hands over the girl's shoulder´s.

The girl finished brushing away her tears and gave a small laugh."It's beautiful, I love it."

"YES!" Sora cried out in victory, before putting his hands over the redhead´s waist and twirling her high in the air, joyous laughter accompanying the both of them as the waves that crashed around them spun in their vision, the sun seemingly shining just a bit brighter than before.

"Hey, I hate to ruin the moment, but we're all waiting for you two lovebirds." A voice called out, making both of them suddenly freeze.

Turning around they saw a rather amused looking Riku, hands crossed as he studied the two now furiously blushing teens from where he stood on the wooden bridge.

"Uh, right! Coming!" Sora called out, his face still as red as a ripe tomato.

"Yeah, in a minute!" Kairi said as well, a noticeable blush still on her cheeks.

Riku gave a devious grin, before turning around and walking off.

"Alright, but you guys play nice." The silvery haired teen said, before jumping off the bridge and heading towards the center of the island.

"RIKU!" Sora called out in a mix of embarrassment and indignation, though the pale teen just lazily waved his hand as he walked. The blushing Keyblade wielder quickly went after him. "Hey!"

Despite her previous embarrassment, Kairi couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey Sora, wait." The redhead said as she caught up to the brunette.

"Huh?" The teen asked as he turned around, his head tilted slightly in curiosity.

"Do you think you could help me put this on?" Kairi asked as she motioned at the bracelet resting on her hand. If possible, Sora´s expression brightened even more.

"Sure!"

After fumbling with the bracelet to finally put it on, the two teens headed towards the center of the island near the waterfall, where a large group of people waited for them; fourteen in total. Sora didn't recall ever seeing so many people in this small island, but even despite of its small size, it was as if the small world did its best to accommodate and welcome its visitors.

Everyone was there: King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy looking as bright as always. Chip and Dale as well, had left the gummi ship to join in on the occasion. Even the entire gang from the HBRC was there as well, many of them like Leon, Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie looking slightly out of place with their mostly dark toned clothing. Only Aerith and Merlin didn't stick out so badly; the woman because of her pink dress, and the wizard, because strangely enough, he sported only a pair of starry light blue bathing shorts instead of his usual long robe. It was...shocking to say the least. To his great surprise Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie were there as well, mingling with the otherworldly visitors as if they'd been friends for years. Kairi told him about what happened here on the islands, but of course, seeing it for himself was an entirely different thing.

Cheers erupted when the two of them finally made their appearances, including some wolf whistles from Tidus that made the blush that had since faded rise once more.

"Was about damn time!" Cid called out from where he sat. His plastic chair leaning backwards dangerously.

"I suppose that means we can get started then." Riku said calmly, giving Sora a small knowing look before turning towards Leon and nodding. Sora sent a grateful look to his best friend, as he had just saved him from even more embarrassment.

At the brunette swordsman´s signal, Aerith, Yuffie and Tifa, came forward, only then making Sora realize that they had purposely been standing in the back of the large group. To his great surprise, the three woman then brought up what appeared to be a large birthday cake. It was three stories high with white and light pink frosting. Large sugary flowers like those that could be found around the island decorated the cake to give it an exotic feel. On the very top there, were fifteen lit candles.

"Everybody on three." Yuffie called out. "One, two...THREE!"

"You guys!" Kairi said in surprise as everyone gathered began to sing her a happy birthday. Sora would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised as well.

He knew what would happen since he was the one that mentioned Kairi´s birthday before Aerith, Yuffie, and Tifa decided to make it into a group celebration. Still, he didn't think the cake would be nearly as big or as elaborate as it was, since he was just told to relax as they would take care of things.

"Alright, make a wish!" Selphie said as she patted the redhead on the back. Kairi looked thoughtful for a moment as her gaze landed on the silver bracelet that was now around her right wrist. Clearly the others didn't miss the gesture since he soon received amused and some congratulatory looks from those around him, making his cheeks redden once more. Even Cloud gave him a small nod, his lips curving just the tiniest fraction into what had to be his equivalent of a smile.

'_**You know,what you did back there took guts.'**_ Roxas' voice echoed within his mind.

'_Well it would have been easier with a little help, you know.' _Sora retorted, his blush still present.

The blonde's laugh rang within his head. _**'And miss the fun?' **_

'_Hey, it´ll be your turn sooner or later.'_ Sora replied teasingly, though this time the former nobody chose to remain silent. _'You have been acting awfully strange when you're with Naminé._'

The brunette felt a small rush of embarrassment, though this time, much to his amusement, it was not coming from him.

He had won this round.

There was a loud sound that snapped him out of his thoughts, and he realized now that Riku was trying to get his attention; a large piece of cake waiting for him on a plastic plate. Looking around, he realized that they had just started opening the presents.

"You know, those guys from Twilight Town actually sent a present as well." Riku commented as he saw Kairi and the other girls gather around the gifts.

"They did?" Sora asked in surprise. "How?"

"Moogles." Riku replied with a shrug. "It also came with a get well soon card."

"Wow." Sora called out in surprise. "Wait, where is it?"

"It´s in the ship in a large sac along with the others." Leon piped up as he walked over to the pair.

"WHAT?" Sora called out. If he was surprised before, he had to be completely shocked now. "Others?"

"You have been to a lot of worlds after all." The swordsman replied, eyes clearly reflecting his amusement.

"B-but, how did they all know?" The brunette keyblade wielder asked.

Riku let out an amused laugh. "Aren't you the one always going on about how our hearts are all connected?"

Sora's eyes widened as he thought about those words; his own words to be exact. Suddenly, he felt as if they held a newfound meaning, or rather, he had rediscovered something that he had long since forgotten. It was like the last fragments of a dream after waking up; so close and yet so far. There was just something about it that gave him the strangest feeling of deja vu, no, it was more than that. Hearing those words suddenly filled him with an inexplicable warmth.

"Hey guys, come on. Let´s all take a picture together!" Kairi called them over in excitement; a new camera already held in her grasp.

"Coming!" Riku called out, before turning towards Sora. "Come on, let's go."

"Uh, yeah... sure." Sora said, shaking his head at the strange feeling that had suddenly overtaken him.

**Never forget.**

"Huh?" Sora asked, his head quickly turning while his brows furrowed in confusion.

'_**Is something wrong?' **_Roxas asked, noticing his sudden reaction.

'_Did you hear...'_ Sora began, but then quickly shook his head, a grin quickly forming on his lips. _'Nevermind, I just thought I heard something. Come, on let's go!'_

With a bright smile on his face, the Keyblade wielder ran to join his friends. Though the past was painful and the future uncertain, for now the present was warm and bright like the sun that shone above him.

Above all, he knew he would never be alone, for no matter the distance that separated them, their hearts were all connected.

**We'll always be here.**

'_I know.'_

* * *

**Canis: "Are you...crying?"**

**Crystal: "No, I'm cooing. I just love those forms. They're like big brothers watching over him."**

**Canis: "You don´t think I overdid it right? Romance isn't exactly my preferred genre, though I still operate under the belief that after so much fighting, the least i could give Sora was a happy ending.**

**Crystal: "I thought it would be, but you pulled back at the right moment. I like how it ended. Though I had mixed feelings when it did."**

**Canis: "What do you mean?"**

**Crystal: "Relief, pride, happiness, nostalgia, those things. But it's been beautiful and a lot of fun to work on."**

**Canis: "Yeah, they grow up so fast. It has been really fun, too. Which brings me to another point. There´s another project I've been working on alongside HH. It's much longer, though this time it´s a crossover (It´s not a KH crossover, unfortunately). It´s a rather interesting mix too, I'm not quite sure why it hasn't been done before (I´m a great fan of both series; let´s see if any of you can guess)."**

**Crystal: "On second thought... *cries in corner*. So long, sooo long! *bounces back* though it will be fun again hmmm."**

**Canis: "Yeah, I'll go MIA for awhile. I plan to upload the next project, only when I am positive I will be able to keep a steady update schedule."**

**Crystal: "Thank you all for the reviews! It was most appreciated! Hope you like the next story! And one last time for this story, Read and Review!"**

**Canis: "This last call goes out to all of you who bothered to read this. Seriously guys, I can't thank you enough."**

**Canis and Crystal: "Thanks, and goodbye (for now)!"**


End file.
